Hollow Hill
by SaturnNights
Summary: In the small town of Hollow Hill, unspeakable crimes have been committed. Trusts are put to the test, lines are drawn and a town full of potential victims is on the line. Warning: The following story contains heavy material, themes and references. Viewer Discretion is Advised.
1. The Night

**Welcome everyone. I'd like to give you my thanks for checking out my newest story.**

 **This story came to mind and I thought it would be an interesting experience to write for another genre.**

 **I hope you enjoy and don't be afraid to make guesses.**

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic The Hedgehog or any of the characters, they are owned by Sega and Sonic Team._

* * *

 **Hollow Hill.**

Small little town, quaint, just like any other town.

The residents of the town had been spending the day, setting up decorations for the month of October.

The weather had grown cold as the clouds rolled in, concealing the light, bathing the city in a dark blue atmosphere, complimented by the orange of the fallen leaves.

However the weather would soon be the least of their worries, as tragedies in the making would soon begin.

Of course, they would start, in one of the worst ways possible.

Two hedgehogs and an echidna walked up the street, making their usual rounds and stopping by to say hello to whoever.

"So, is the party on or what?" Knuckles asked.

"Yeah dude, my parents are gonna be out of town that week, this years Halloween party is gonna be awesome!" Sonic exclaimed.

"Great, so…here's the thing." Knuckles started.

Sonic looked at him curiously while Shadow just rolled his eyes, already sick of their drama.

"You see, the thing is, I'm kind of bringing Amy." Knuckles said.

Sonic flinched a bit, hearing the name of his ex-girlfriend but quickly put on his cool guy persona.

"Sure, no problem man, it'll be fun." Sonic lied through his teeth.

Knuckles breathed a sigh of relief and thanked him.

A month prior to this, Amy had broken up with Sonic due to him constantly hanging out with other girls.

While she saw right through him everyone else saw the perfect guy.

He was star quarterback of their high school team, a straight A student and set for a full scholarship, to them he could do no wrong.

At first she wrote it off as innocent flirting, but then, she saw him for what he really was.

That night she decided to go for a walk in the park, would stick with her from then on.

She suddenly felt ill as she saw Sonic kissing another girl.

Luckily he hadn't seen since she'd been wearing a dark hoodie, she stepped away as fast as she could, covering her mouth with her hand in fear she was gonna be sick.

Tears rolled down her cheeks.

She knew something was wrong but she never imagined that he would do this.

But from there, it only got worse.

Sonic guided the girl out of the park to behind a building.

Amy followed closely behind but had to keep her distance.

She couldn't make out what they were saying but she managed to pick up a few words the girl had said.

"You have to tell Amy." She said.

The next moment, would change everything.

Sonic began to fume with anger and pushed her up against the wall.

He began to scream and cuss her out, both verbally and physically abusing her.

Amy had felt bad before, but now, she couldn't even begin to describe the emptiness inside.

Finally, it ended, Sonic forcing her into a kiss and then the next moment, taking advantage of the situation, so to speak.

Amy couldn't take it anymore, running off home, into the night, but still hearing the noises in the distance.

The next day she reported him to the authorities, however, they did nothing.

Sonic was seen as the town's idol, no way they were going to tarnish his reputation.

Amy couldn't understand, he did such horrible things and yet they would do nothing about it.

After that, school didn't go any better.

The students had found out about what she had done, shunning her and talking behind her back every chance they got, calling her a gold digger and a fraud.

Sick of the torment, she knew she had to prove them wrong.

She broke up with Sonic in front of everyone.

After that the rumors had calmed down, instead being directed at the reason why they broke up.

Even Amy's friends who she had confided in didn't believe her.

The only one who was there for her was Knuckles.

When he saw how distraught Amy was, he immediately offered his support to help her through this tough time in her life.

Eventually their relationship had turned romantic, fueling the fire of everyone's theories as to what happened.

All these events culminating to this very night.

After hanging out at the local diner, the three disbanded as it grew late.

They each decided to head to their homes, Knuckles being the last to leave.

As he walked down the street, he heard a faint sound.

Ignoring it as a figment of his imagination, he continued on.

That's when he heard it again, stopping in his tracks as the voice stopped.

He remained quiet, listening closely for the sound again.

That's when he heard it, the sound of a faint sobbing in the distance.

He started walking again, trying to find where the sound was coming from.

That's when he heard it up close, it was coming from down an alleyway.

"Hello?" He called out.

No answer, the voice just kept sobbing.

Taking matters into his own hands, he headed in, hoping to help this person.

As he walked down the alleyway, the lights were no longer seen, he could barely see.

But then, he saw it.

A small light coming from the end.

When he reached it, he was shocked to find a phone.

Picking it up, he saw it was playing a video, an audio recording of someone crying.

"What the?" He said.

The next second, he felt a sharp pain in his back.

He screamed out in pain as he looked down, he was wounded.

The sharp pain came back again and again, till finally he collapsed to the ground.

His body lay there for a moment as a cloaked figure looked over his victim.

His body was then dragged off, into the darkness.

* * *

 **The Next Morning.**

The citizens of Hollow Hill woke up that morning like any other, awaiting what the day would hold.

Unfortunately for them, it would hold a grim situation.

As they began to drive out or walk to their jobs or around town, the reports started coming in.

A woman screamed when she saw what been presented to them atop the town hall that morning.

Everyone's eyes widened and staring in complete disbelief and sorrow.

There, displayed for all to see, was none other, than Knuckles the Echidna.


	2. Prime Suspect

**Hey everyone. Thank you all for the support so far and now it's time to answer some reviews.**

 **Captain – Thanks so much. One thing about this story, never rule anyone out and unfortunately Knuckles did not survive his encounter.**

 **Guest – Thanks. As for Sonic and Amy, you're about to find out.**

 **IcyPinkFlower – Thank you. Of course this story will continue.**

 **Lilly – Thank you. You may assume correctly or maybe not, we'll find out.**

 **The reviews meant a lot to me and I hope you all continue to enjoy the story.**

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic The Hedgehog or any of the characters, they are owned by Sega and Sonic Team._

 _Disclaimer: Jojo is owned by BigWritingWorld, so special thanks to him for letting me feature him._

* * *

The crime scene had become a frenzy as the town tried to catch a glimpse of the victim.

While his peers looked at him in horror, some falling to their knees, crying and yelling in a fit of emotions, the older ones within the crowd shook their heads, grieving for the poor soul and wondering who was to blame.

"Alright people, back up, come on back up." Officer Vector commanded.

The ambulance had finally managed to show up after being blocked the buildup of traffic.

It was the evening by this point and the team was finishing up.

Paramedics had been at the ready for any situation, while forensics looked over the body.

"Multiple strikes around the waist and thigh areas, one large wound straight through the heart." Tails reported.

"We'll take the body to the lab, I can get a better look there." Tails told them.

The officers nodded and called the ambulances in.

"I'm thinking this was a crime of passion?" Someone called out to them.

They turned to see an all too familiar fox, dressed in a black suit and tie.

"Jojo, how ya been rookie?" Vector asked his old friend.

"It's just Jo now and I've been doing alright, looks like I made the right call." Jo told him.

Jo had originally been an officer for the county, but after being treated as just the rookie for years, never getting in on the action nor receiving any respect from his fellow officers, landing him that nickname, he quit the force, pursuing a career as a detective in Station Square.

"Well, look at you, Mr. Big shot, what're you doing down here anyway?" Vector questioned.

"I got a call from the chief, he said he wanted me on this case, I thought it would be fun." Jo said with a smirk.

The two of them, clearly at odds with each other, parted ways.

Jo took a look out at the crowd, seeing the affected faces, all except one.

One person had managed to stand out, Jo noticing him immediately.

His face hidden thanks to his hoodie, the man stared on as the body was taken away.

Jo began to approach him, but he wasn't quick enough.

The man walked into the crowd, managing to escape.

* * *

 **Later at Interrogation.**

"Alright, what do we got?" Jo asked.

"His girlfriend, Amy Rose, the girl is still broken up, so try to be more calm with her." Officer Espio told him.

"Got it, who else?" Jo asked.

"Sonic the Hedgehog, Amy's ex-boyfriend and according to a few sources, tends to be the jealous type." Espio said.

"It's always the ex, isn't it?" Jo commented.

"The guy says he has an alibi." Espio said.

"They always do." Jo said sternly.

"Have the parents been notified?" Jo asked.

"By the time we got to them, it was already all over the news." Espio said with shame and regret in his voice.

Both of them remained silent for a moment before Jo walked away.

Jo walked down the halls, entering the interrogation room to see Sonic seated, awaiting him.

Jo placed a file on the table and took a seat across from him.

He opened the file, turning each page slowly, looking at Sonic with a glare each time.

Finally he closed the file, glaring at Sonic for a good minute and a half before speaking up.

"Mr. Hedgehog, are you aware of the penalty of committing such a crime?" Jo began.

"Hey, I'll tell you what I told the cops, I'm innocent, I was at home when it happened, I swear." Sonic told him.

"You have no one to vouch for your whereabouts and the victim was last seen with you." Jo pointed out.

"Hey, it wasn't just me, Shadow was there too!" Sonic shouted.

"Who?" Jo asked.

"Shadow the Hedgehog, he's a friend of ours, ask him, I left before he did, he was there." Sonic plead.

Jo took out his small notepad, writing down Shadow's name but still glaring at Sonic.

"You ain't off the hook yet kid." Jo said.

Putting his outstretched fingers down on the file, he smirked.

"You're still a suspect until we can prove who did it, besides, your reputation doesn't exactly help your case." Jo told him.

"What do you mean?" Sonic asked.

Jo opened back up the file, pacing around the room as he read it out loud.

"Breaking and entering, theft, multiple assaults and yet no files were ever charged, none of this was made public either, why is that, Mr. Hedgehog?" Jo asked, gritting his teeth.

"I was leading the team to the championships, they couldn't have their star player getting into trouble, it would tarnish the town's reputation." Sonic said, as if to mock him.

Jo slammed the file on the table.

"You've gotten away with a lot, but your glory days are over, you're not gonna get away with it this time, there's no one to protect you and we'll have you behind bars soon enough." Jo vowed.

Sonic just chuckled, smirking then getting up in his face.

"I didn't do it, but if I did, I'd still get away with it." Sonic taunted.

Jo used all his will not to punch Sonic right in the face, instead storming out of the room to inform them he was finished with Sonic.

They escorted Sonic out of the station, Jo returning to the room.

"Bring in Ms. Rose."


	3. First Day Back

**Back again with another chapter everyone, hope you've been enjoying so far and of course, time to answer reviews.**

 **Shadow Hedgi, Rotark and Epsilon – I thanked you all in messages but I just wanted to thank you again, the support is amazing as well as all of you.**

 **Lilly – Once again, thank you and also once again, you're about to find out.**

 **IcyPinkFlower – Thank you. I actually didn't base this off anything, I've just been wanting to do a crime thriller. I've actually never heard of that book but thanks for informing me, I read the plot and trust me, it's nowhere near there but now I can make sure to avoid similarities, it just seemed normal to make Sonic the jock.**

 **Gililoquy – No Problem, thank you as well.**

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic The Hedgehog or any of the characters, they are owned by Sega and Sonic Team._

 _Disclaimer: Jojo is owned by BigWritingWorld, so special thanks to him for letting me feature him._

* * *

Amy made her way into the room, her eyes still puffy and filled with tears.

"Ms. Rose, I'm sorry for your loss." Jo tried to calm her down.

Amy couldn't look at him as she tried to hold back the sobs.

"Please, have a seat." Jo said.

They both sat at the table, Jo once again sat across.

"Alright, Ms. Rose, I promise I'll keep this brief." Jo assured her.

Amy attempted a nod and the session began.

"Ms. Rose, where were you on the night in question?" Jo started off.

Amy wiped away her tears and cleared her throat.

"I was working late at my friend's bakery." Amy answered, still sounding a bit rough.

"Can your friend vouch for your whereabouts?" Jo asked.

"Yeah, her name is Vanilla, she was working in the back office, plus they have security cameras set up." Amy told him, giving him the address.

Jo jotted down the details.

"Now, do you have any idea of who would want to harm Mr. Echidna, someone with a grudge perhaps?" Jo questioned.

Amy cringed, just thinking about Sonic made her skin crawl.

"Sonic." Was all she could say.

Jo nodded in understanding, both of them knowing full well what Sonic was capable of.

Jo stood up, thanked her for her cooperation and showed her out.

"Ms. Rose." Jo said, as she was at the door.

Amy turned as he talked.

"I promise, I'm gonna get this guy, you have my word." Jo swore to her.

With her emotions at their height, she finally broke down, crying into his chest, whimpering a thank you.

A few minutes later, her parents arrived to take her back home and as they drove off, Jo immediately took charge.

"I want the DNA reports from the lab on my desk the minute they're finished." He told Tails.

"Espio, get me all the info you can on this Shadow the Hedgehog and Vector, I'm gonna need you to check out this bakery and question this, Vanilla." Jo ordered.

Vector suddenly perked up, taking the slip of paper with a smile, even though he knew the address by heart.

"Alright everybody, let's get to work!" Jo ordered.

* * *

 **The Next Day.**

School had resumed the next day, to the dismay of many.

While many had tried to console Amy in her time of grief, the atmosphere surrounding the school had changed.

The grim nature of the situation had taken its toll on everyone, causing confusion and accusations.

It almost seemed like everyone's trust was put into question.

However, the biggest change, was Sonic's image.

Before, he had been the school's superstar, the guy everyone wanted to be.

But now, with him being the prime suspect in the investigation, the way everyone looked at him had changed.

In their minds, no one else had a motive, he was unanimously guilty.

When he walked down the halls, everyone turned their glances away, fearing eye contact with him.

Sonic just smirked, knowing once they found him innocent, that all of them would feel like idiots.

He was surprised to see his own teammates scowl at him, they'd known him for years.

But he was too arrogant to care, he just wrote it off as something he could gloat about later.

It wasn't until a few hours later, until it would start to go downhill.

After the last class, everyone was gathered for an assembly.

Each of them took a seat and awaited for it to begin.

Soon enough, Principal Tikal walked onto the stage, standing at the podium, testing the microphone.

After the test, she began her speech.

"Yesterday, we lost someone, close to us." She started, obviously trying to hold back her own sorrow.

"We lost a classmate, a dear friend and to some, even more than that." She said, casting a glance to Amy.

"Knuckles the Echidna, was an inspiration to us all, constantly helping others in their times of need, helping to tutor many of you, volunteering for events and just being there when it mattered." She said, her speaking growing more and more intense and emotional as she went on.

Her eulogy for Knuckles began to get to some of them.

It was like seeing the different stages of grief, all in one room.

Many had denied that anything had happened, just convincing themselves he was just injured and that he would be back soon.

Others were angry, trying to find someone to blame.

Some bargained, begging somehow that he could come back.

Most of them were depressed, grieving for their fallen friend.

Just a few had reached acceptance, knowing that he was in a better place now.

"He will be missed." Tikal finished.

"Now, his friends have prepared a video presentation for him." Tikal told them.

Tikal stepped aside as the curtain opened.

What they saw next would leave everyone in shock.

With the curtain fully opened, everyone gasped at what was in front of them.

The screen had been replaced with a giant picture of Amy.

Spray painted across her face for all to read.

It should've been you.


	4. The Investigation Begins

**Wow, the support has been awesome, you're all so great and of course, it's time to respond.**

 **Shadow Hedgi – I'm loving the enthusiasm.**

 **Lilly – They're definitely not a fan of hers, that's for sure.**

 **BigWritingWorld – It's always an honor and a joy to have the character along.**

 **Epsilon and IcyPinkFlower – You won't know until the very end, trust me, I'm going to keep you all guessing.**

 **With all that said, let's continue where we left off.**

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic The Hedgehog or any of the characters, they are owned by Sega and Sonic Team._

 _Disclaimer: Jojo is owned by BigWritingWorld, so special thanks to him for letting me feature him._

* * *

Due to the actions of whoever this student was, the school took the precaution of assigned pickups.

They left everyone protected until their parent or guardian showed up to retrieve them.

As the clock struck three, most of them were released into their care, driving off quickly to get away, ironically creating a small traffic jam in a parking lot of all places.

The sounds of horns beeping and disgruntled drivers shouting at one another, filled the area.

Before long, they could hear the sirens in the distance, which effectively shut everyone up.

The cars pulled up, Espio exiting from his car to direct people safely out of there while in the other car, Jo thought about how he was going to approach the situation.

 _"A clear case of vandalism with a threat against Ms. Rose, could it have been the same person?" He wondered._

 _"No, the attack against Knuckles was deliberate, whoever this is, the only thing they're guilty of is having a grudge." Jo reasoned._

He exited the car and entered the school, walking into the principal's office.

"Ma'am." Jo greeted Tikal.

"Detective." Tikal welcomed back.

"I heard you had something for me to see." Jo said.

Tikal nodded and pulled out a tape, putting it into the machine, displaying what looked to be camera footage on the television.

"Security footage from earlier, we just installed cameras backstage, looks like they weren't a waste of funds after all." Tikal said.

Jo kept watching, waiting for the moment.

That's when he spotted her in the distance.

A woman, barely visible, only slightly revealed by the lighting.

Minutes passed and as everyone backstage left one by one, she drew closer.

The closer she stepped, the more visible she was.

Finally, the moment she smashed the screen in, Jo paused it with the remote, he saw her.

Tikal pushed a button, speaking to her assistant on the other end.

"Bring her in." Tikal said.

The door opened, revealing the woman from the footage, apprehended.

"Hello Rouge." Tikal said.

* * *

 **Later.**

Jo once again got ready for an interrogation as he wondered what this Rouge had to do with anything.

Not a second later, Vector walked in giving him his answer.

"Hey, you investigate Amy's bakery alibi?" Jo asked.

"Yeah, her story checks out, as for this Rouge girl that's a whole different thing entirely." Vector said.

"What do you mean?" Jo asked.

"Turns out she's our dearly departed victim's ex girlfriend and she wasn't too happy when he started dating Ms. Rose." Vector informed him.

Jo looked as if he'd solved some part of some grand puzzle, like the pieces were fitting together.

"You think she'd do it?" Jo asked.

"Jealousy is a strong thing, she probably took him out and regretted it, she probably just wishes she'd gone after Amy." Vector theorized.

Jo nodded in agreement, thinking the theory could make sense.

Chugging down the last of his coffee, he put his mug down on the counter and went to the interrogation room.

He looked at her as she looked back, giving him a mocking look of disgust.

Jo slipped off his suit jacket and placed it on the chair, as if to say he meant business.

He pulled out her file, taunting her with her charges, seeing if he could psyche her out.

"Rouge the Bat, records include, multiple suspensions, one expulsion, five reports of vandalism and two for assault." He read off, then shut the file.

"Quite the stats you've built up and now it's six for vandalism, plus one new one if we're correct." Jo told her.

"What would that be?" Rouge asked.

Jo grew more serious, taking his seat, pulling out his notepad.

"Where were you on the night of October 1st at 11: 55 PM?" Jo questioned.

Rouge just smiled once he said that.

"If you're wondering if I had anything to do with Knuckles, then I guess you're not that great of a detective now, isn't that right…Jojo?" Rouge taunted him back.

Jo cringed in anger at the mention of the nickname.

He regained his composure and continued to question her.

"Well, if you had nothing to do with it, then maybe tell me where you were that night." Jo asked.

Rouge sighed, looking away as she pulled out a card from her pocket.

"Club Scourge?" Jo read the name of the business.

"It's a club I work at, you can ask him who was working that night." Rouge told him.

"Thanks." Jo said, slipping the card into his pocket.

Rouge grabbed his hand, looking at him with pleading eyes.

"Please, don't mention me by name." Rouge asked him to do.

"But, why wouldn't I?" Jo started to asked before being interrupted by Rouge.

Rouge grew more hectic, almost panicking.

"Please, just don't mention me!" Rouge shouted, begging him as she held his wrist tighter.

A few tears slipped out of her eyes, she was actually terrified.

"I promise." Jo said to her.

Jo told her she was welcome to leave and as she reached the door, Jo spot to her.

"You really loved Knuckles, didn't you?" Jo asked.

Rouge turned, still sniffling from her sobbing.

"More than anything." Rouge said.

"Don't blame Amy, this isn't her fault, she loved him just as much as you did." Jo pointed out to her.

Rouge didn't know what to say to that, feeling hints of guilt in the back of her mind.

"I promised her I'd find the guy who did this, I'd say that goes for you too." Jo told her.

Rouge whimpered a thank you and left.

Jo put his jacket back on and left, seeing Espio returning from the school.

"Hey, any luck with the bat?" Espio asked.

"No luck in solving the case but, I got another lead." Jo told him.

"Speaking of which, I got info on that Shadow guy, the guy has got a clean record, I talked to his parents to get him to come down to the station, they refused for him to leave." Espio told him.

"Think they'll be okay if we question him at his home?" Jo asked.

Espio looked at him and smirked.

"Let's find out."


	5. Funeral

**Time for this unfortunate spectacle to continue. As for your reviews.**

 **Lilly – As I've said before, never rule anyone out, and that's not stupid, that would be a great twist.**

 **IcyPinkFlower – As amusing as that sounds there's no fun in being right, at least in this case. As for Rouge and Shadow's situations, you'll see soon enough. Thank you.**

 **Shadow Hedgi – Always an honor to have you along, you'll show up in good time.**

 **Epsilon – Thank you. Yes, unfortunately Espio's name autocorrects to that, I managed to go back and fix most of them before I published the chapter, but I guess I missed one, thanks again for pointing it out.**

 **Now, back to the story.**

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic The Hedgehog or any of the characters, they are owned by Sega and Sonic Team._

 _Disclaimer: Jojo is owned by BigWritingWorld, so special thanks to him for letting me feature him._

* * *

 **October 4th.**

Jo pulled the car up, leaving it parked across the street as he walked up to the house.

He knocked on the door, being greeted by the hedgehog himself, Shadow.

"My parents already told you guys I can't come down to the station." Shadow told him.

"I know, you don't have to come down to the station, I just have to ask you a few questions about the case, then we'll leave you alone." Jo told him.

Shadow sighed and let him in.

Jo took a look around, seemed like a perfectly normal home and Espio had told him they had found nothing in terms of evidence.

Jo took out his notepad and pen, beginning the usual questions.

"Where were you the night of October 1st?" Jo questioned.

"Running for my life." Shadow answered.

Jo stopped writing, surprised by the answer.

"Care to explain?" Jo asked.

"My parents hear nothing about this, got it?" Shadow said his terms.

"They won't know a thing." Jo swore.

"About an hour before what happened with Knuckles, I had left the diner to get home." Shadow started his story.

* * *

 _Flashback._

 _Shadow decided to take a shortcut, in fear his parents would lecture him about staying out too late when he got home._

 _Cutting across town, he'd made it to the abandoned lot, his house just a few blocks away._

 _Slowing down his pace, he'd thought he'd heard a noise in the distance._

 _Shadow concentrated on the sound as it grew louder, a low humming sound._

 _Shadow started to walk again, but now the sound had grown even louder._

 _He was able to recognize it as a car._

 _"No one ever comes out here, especially not this late." He thought._

 _Turning around, he saw it in the distance, but not for long._

 _Before he knew it, it was getting closer and closer, speeding right towards him._

 _He started to run at a quick pace in an angle, hoping he would get out of its way._

 _But it looked like the driver was aiming for him as it started barreling towards him._

 _He kept on running, but the car was gaining on him, the headlights shining brighter at his feet._

 _Shadow struggled to catch his breath as he used every ounce of strength he had to avoid his demise at the hands of this maniac._

 _It seemed he was out of luck, as he tripped on the curb, slamming into the street._

 _He picked himself up, wincing in pain and as he looked up, the car just stood there, the giant ghostly grey truck, towering over him._

 _He tried to look through the windows to see who was driving, but they were tinted so no one could view inside._

 _Finally after a few minutes of staring at the car, the driver pulled away, driving off back into the direction of where he entered._

 _End of Flashback._

* * *

"After that, I made it home." Shadow ended his story.

"Why didn't you tell your parents?" Jo asked.

"They didn't need to know." Was all Shadow said.

Jo sighed and wrote down the last of the details.

"I'll look around, see if your alibi checks out, if you're telling the truth, we won't have any problems." Jo said.

Jo left the house, getting back into his car, he heard an urgent message coming through the radio.

"All units, report to the cemetery immediately, I repeat all units!"

* * *

 **Earlier that day.**

While Jo had gone to question Shadow, most of the town's people had arrived at the cemetery for Knuckles' funeral.

It seemed everyone close to him had arrived.

Amy was being comforted by Cream and Vanilla while Blaze and Silver were talking to Knuckles' parents, reminding them of what a great person he was.

Rouge had soon showed up, Amy backing away in fear, but was soon enveloped in a hug by Rouge.

"I'm sorry." Rouge whimpered.

Amy breaking down as well, forgave her, understanding her heartbreak.

Sally, Bunnie and Antoine all gave their condolences to both Amy and the family.

The service had started, each one of them giving heartfelt speeches about Knuckles, some even making them smile at the fond memories they had of him, it was truly a moment of healing and a moment of remembrance.

Unfortunately, someone had come along to mess all that up.

"Y'all know nothin about him." Someone said.

Everyone turned to see, Sonic, dressed in a raggedy old suit and sunglasses.

Everyone glared at him, all of them thinking simultaneously how he had no shame.

Disgusted by his behavior, almost everyone stood up to tell him to leave.

"You aren't welcome here." Vanilla told him.

"Yeah!" Everyone else joined in.

"I think I am." Sonic said, smirking as he pushed Vanilla aside.

"Mom!" Cream shouted in concern, picking her mother up from the ground.

"You didn't think I was gonna miss this, did you?" Sonic asked.

As if to add insult to injury, Sonic took a seat on the coffin.

"Hey Ames, now that Knuckles is gone, How's about we get back together, I promise I'll forgive you." Sonic offered.

Amy looked away, the tears slipping out as well as her anger building at the disgusting hedgehog.

"Come on, I bet I'll be better than he was." Sonic said, making gestures that disturbed everyone.

"That's it!" Knuckles father shouted, storming forward to remove Sonic.

"Whatcha gonna do tough guy?!" Sonic taunted.

They broke out into a fight, everyone backing away in fear they would get caught in it.

Eventually, Knuckles mother pulled her husband away from Sonic, a few of his teammates managed to hold Sonic back.

"Alright, fine, I'll go." Sonic said, breaking out of their grasp.

"But first, I'll give you what you all came to see." Sonic said.

Sonic pushed forward, kicking the coffin, causing it crash into the grave.

Everyone flinched as it fell, but strangely enough, there was no crash.

They noticed the heavy thud, coming from below.

Going to investigate, they pulled the coffin up out of the ground carefully, knowing they would hold the ceremony again, this time with Knuckles put to rest respectfully.

As they looked into the grave, they all leapt back in horror at what they had seen, one of them screaming in terror.

Everyone immediately rushed to the grave, peering in at what it could be.

Vanilla grew sick at the sight, running away then falling to the ground, as her illness caught up to her and she finally let her sickness out.

To the shock of everyone, the grave was already inhabited.

Inside, was a body, the body of someone they had all known.

The body of Officer Vector.


	6. Club Scourge

**Hey everyone. I originally hadn't planned on updating until tomorrow, but there were a few reviews i felt I had to respond to immediately.**

 **Guests – Unfortunately, Vector is no longer with them. No, I decided to leave Sonic with no parents in this one, which will be explained later and as for the maniac, also explained later. Espio is still alive.**

 **Loren – Thank you. I've actually never watched the show. Also, you said you were going to make this a story with your OC, if that means what I think it means that would be Copying, otherwise known as Plagiarism, I appreciate the compliments but please don't do that, if you wish to make stories with your OC, I'd be more than happy to help.**

 **Gililoquy – Thank you, I aim to surprise.**

 **Epsilon – I make no promises. I say as I laugh evilly.**

 **Lilly – You're right about that! As for Knuckles, he was in the coffin, Vector's body was placed underneath it in the ground so no one could see it, then when they lowered it, no one would ever find it.**

 **Alright, well, that was interesting. Let's get back to the story, shall we?**

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic The Hedgehog or any of the characters, they are owned by Sega and Sonic Team._

 _Disclaimer: Jojo is owned by BigWritingWorld, so special thanks to him for letting me feature him._

* * *

"How could this happen?!" Espio shouted.

They slowly dragged Vector's body out of the grave, placing it on a stretcher to be taken for studying.

Jo's car pulled up fast, the tires squealing as it came to a stop.

Jo opened the doors, running out there as quick as he could.

As he ran towards Espio, he saw why everyone had been called.

Espio grasped Jo by his collar, looking at him like he wanted to hurt someone.

"Please tell me you know who did this." Espio said, trying to hold back his emotions.

"No, I'm sorry." Jo told him.

Espio's grip tightened before he finally let go of him, hanging his head with his fingers against his temple, trying to get rid of his migraine.

"I've got a lead, you ever hear of Club Scourge?" Jo asked.

Espio looked up at Jo, wide eyed at his statement.

But then, Espio's stern expression came through.

"That trash is gonna pay." Espio growled and got back into his car.

Jo wondered who he was talking about as he set out for the club.

* * *

 **Later.**

Jo pulled up to the club, almost getting sick from the scent it gave off.

It was dingy and depraved in every way.

Jo reached for the doorknob, stopping as his fingers almost touched it.

Chuckling a bit, he pulled out the plastic gloves he had for collecting evidence.

Opening the door, he had managed to enter right when a bar brawl broke out.

Chairs being smashed into people, countless glass bottles breaking and someone even thrown into the jukebox.

"Hey!" Jo shouted.

Instantly everyone stopped, turning their sights to him.

"The name's Jo, I'm working with the police, I'm here to ask a few questions." Jo told them.

Everyone looked at each other, then suddenly, everyone made a break for it, pushing over each other, trampling one another to get away.

The bar had been emptied in a matter of seconds, save for the terrified bartenders hiding behind the counter.

"Hey, what's going on?!" Someone yelled out from nowhere.

From upstairs, walked out a green hedgehog.

He bared his fangs at the sight of Jo.

"What do you want?" The hedgehog asked, obviously frustrated.

"I'm a detective working with the police department, I'm here to ask a few questions." Jo explained.

"Looks like my reputation hasn't picked up." The hedgehog joked.

"Jacket!" The hedgehog yelled, snapping his fingers.

From upstairs, walked out a red fox, pressing a blanket against herself to keep covered as she handed him a black jacket with flames on the sleeves.

The hedgehog smirked, pulling the sunglasses out of the pocket then put them on.

Jo took note of the girl's condition.

Her face had been red, her eyes bloodshot with tears slipping out, she'd obviously been crying a lot.

She had a black eye, countless amounts of bruises on her arms and cuts all down her back.

"I take it you're Scourge?" Jo said.

"Guilty as charged." Scourge said.

Scourge patted her on the head and she went back upstairs.

Jo looked to the bar, looking at the two bartenders running it.

They were a chipmunk and a lynx, both of them with similar injuries to the other girl.

"I see you waste no time." Scourge said.

Jo looked at him in confusion.

"What?" Jo asked.

"I saw you looking at them, you got a good eye, if you want, I'd be willing to part with one of them, for the right price of course." Scourge said.

"You do realize who your talking to, right?" Jo asked.

"I could arrest you easily for even the offer." Jo pointed out.

"Come on, don't be such a prude, besides they're almost useless to me anyway, they don't follow directions well at first, but after you teach them a few lessons and add a little motivation, they'll fall right in line." Scourge told him before pulling out a blade.

The hedgehog walked over to the bar, slamming the blade into the counter, leaving it there, leaving the girls watching on, terrified.

"If we're done here, I've got other business to attend to." Scourge says.

"Where were you on the night of October 1st at 11:55PM?" Jo asked the first question.

Scourge looked at him in amusement.

"Enjoying my time with Fiona." Scourge said with a chuckle.

Scourge gestured to the upstairs, Jo figuring it was the red fox.

"Do you have proof?" Jo asked.

"If I did, you wouldn't want to see it." Scourge joked.

Jo cringed at his poor attempt at humor.

"I'm gonna need all the employee records, work times, names, everything." Jo told him.

Scourge's smirk disappeared.

He pulled out a key from his jacket pocket, unlocking a cabinet behind the bottles.

He pulled out a couple of files and handed them to Jo.

"You ain't gonna find anything." Scourge said.

"We'll see." Jo retorted.

Scourge scowled at Jo, then walked back upstairs.

As Jo went to leave he was stopped by the sounds of loud crashing and a woman's scream.

Jo turned around, seeing Fiona running out of the room, screaming.

Jo hurried upstairs, drawing his weapon out, just in case.

As he arrived, he saw Scourge being attacked by the hooded man from before.

"This is for the pain!" The hooded man shouted as he kicked Scourge in the chest, knocking him into the wall.

"This is for the misery!" The man shouted as he picked Scourge up and slammed him into the ground.

"This…is for all those women you've mistreated!" The man shouted, pulling his arm back and letting it go with all the force he had, punching Scourge clear across the jaw, knocking a few of his fangs out.

As Scourge wallowed in pain, Jo looked at the hooded man.

The hooded man looked back before jumping out of the window to escape.

Jo immediately ran outside to catch him, but it was no use, he was gone.

But something else managed to catch his eye, something he wouldn't think he would see around here.

Scourge's car seemed eerily familiar, something that someone else had earlier described perfectly.

There in Scourge's parking spot, was the ghostly grey truck.


	7. Trauma

**Back again with another chapter. Thanks for the feedback everybody and of course, time to respond.**

 **Epsilon – More theories that you will have to wait and see if they're true. I can't wait to bring her into the story either.**

 **sad Little demon – Thank you. As for the man in the hood, he'll be revealed soon.**

 **Shadow Hedgi – Yes.**

 **Guest – You'll be finding out, this chapter.**

 **Alright, let's get back to the story.**

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic The Hedgehog or any of the characters, they are owned by Sega and Sonic Team._

 _Disclaimer: Jojo is owned by BigWritingWorld, so special thanks to him for letting me feature him._

* * *

"You might wanna save us both some time and come clean now." Jo told Scourge.

"I'm telling you, I didn't chase whoever this Shadow guy is down, I've never even met the guy." Scourge tried to defend himself from the accusations.

Jo had been trying to get a confession out of Scourge before the ambulance would arrive.

From there he would be taken to the station for further questioning and the truck would be taken into their custody.

"How are you so sure it's the same truck?" Scourge questioned him.

"Call it instinct." Jo countered.

Scourge laughed at his response.

"You got nothing on me." Scourge said.

The two stared at each other, both with anger and amusement.

The sound of sirens in the distance broke this, Jo proceeding to drag Scourge outside.

* * *

 **Four Days Later. October 8th.**

Amy had decided to keep herself secluded.

While in school, she barely talked to anyone and out of school, she remained in her room.

The love of her life had been taken from her and now someone else had fallen at the hands of this psycho, and she, along with others had to witness the aftermath.

Traumatized at these events, fear and paranoia had taken control.

Constantly looking over her shoulder, even in the safety of her own room, she struggled to stay awake but forced herself to remain alert, going so far as to keep a coffee maker in her room, countless cups as well as empty cans of energy drinks spread out all over the floor.

Amy was shivering, the lack of sleep and the building stress causing her to become ill.

She hears a knock at her bedroom door, making her crawl under the bed in fear.

"Amy, it's Cream." She hears Cream's soft voice on the other side of the door.

Amy exhales her breath in relief and gets out from under the bed to answer the door.

Opening the door, she's surprised when she sees Cream is not alone.

It seemed, Vanilla and Blaze had decided to tag along.

"What is this?" Amy asked.

"We haven't heard from you in a few days, we worried about you." Vanilla told her.

They each looked over her shoulders, noticing the sight of her room and what disarray it's been in.

"I'm alright, I'm just…I don't know." Amy couldn't describe the vast mix of emotions she felt.

"Confused?" Blaze guessed.

"Scared?" Vanilla guessed.

"Yes." Amy said.

They all tried to comfort her, but she seemed hesitant.

"I appreciate you all trying but…he's still out there." Amy pointed out, starting to get testy eyed.

"Hey, they'll catch him, they're hot on his trail, I can feel it." Cream tried to reassure her.

"Yeah, I heard they got Scourge locked up already, it was so obvious, how did we not see it?" Blaze wondered.

"The point is, we realize you need time to heal, but we want to help, let us take you out to dinner, our treat." Vanilla offered.

Amy was once again hesitant, but decided to accept the invitation.

* * *

 **Meanwhile.**

In the days that passed, Scourge's alibi had managed to be true, after lie detector tests and a few witnesses to his actions.

However, to the relief of everyone, he was still locked up over charges of abuse and illegal dealings.

"Well, that may be one more locked up and we might be better off for it, but our guy is still out there." Jo said.

"I ran all the tests I could, but there was no DNA evidence at either of the crime scenes or in the car, it's like they all happened out of nowhere." Tails told him.

"Thank you, Mr. Prower." Jo said.

"What about Sonic, anyone hear anything from him?" Jo asked.

"Nothing so far, it's been pretty calm." Espio said.

"Help!" Someone screamed.

Everyone exchanged glances and immediately rushed outside.

"Guess I spoke too soon." Espio said.

Outside, Cream came running up to the station, screaming for help, her clothes covered in ashes.

She fell to her knees, crying as she reached them.

"Get this girl some help!" Jo ordered.

"Cream, Cream, I'm gonna need you to calm down and tell me what happened?" Jo tried to calm her down to get a clear answer.

Cream could only get out one word through her sobbing.

"Mom."


	8. Urgent

**Hello everyone, thank you all once again and of course, time to respond.**

 **Epsilon – it is a shame.**

 **Lilly – like I said before don't be afraid to guess, you could be right.**

 **BigWritingWorld – As funny as that would be, he's not in this story.**

 **Guest – A good guess, but in this story everyone is grounded, meaning no powers whatsoever, otherwise the case would be all too easy to solve.**

 **IcyPinkFlower – It's cool, it happens. Hey, you never know, this story is full of surprises. Once again, no one has powers. I think I got the references.**

 **Well, with that taken care of, let's return to the mayhem.**

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic The Hedgehog or any of the characters, they are owned by Sega and Sonic Team._

 _Disclaimer: Jojo is owned by BigWritingWorld, so special thanks to him for letting me feature him._

* * *

They had almost been too late.

The moment they arrived, the establishment collapsed, leaving a burning rubble in its place.

Cream cried out to her mother, the tears running down her cheeks as she banged her fist against the window.

Cream opened the car door, running over to the wreckage, looking for her mother.

Her emotions at their height, she began to dig through the collapsed building, picking it up piece by piece.

With each piece her hands grew rougher, her palms cut up and her fingers covered in splinters.

She dug and dug, until finally, she saw it.

An arm, sticking out from underneath a collapsed rafter.

Thankfully it was arched, leaving room for the person underneath and for Cream to try and lift it.

Cream using all her strength, attempted to lift the rafter but at that point, it was too heavy.

Jo and Espio had managed to catch up, running to her side immediately to help her.

Lifting up the rafter, they each worked in unison to move it aside.

Setting it down on the ground, they all exhaled.

When Cream looked over, she gasped upon sight.

Vanilla lay there, the damage far greater than whatever they could imagine.

Her face now had a large slash, running across it diagonally.

Her arms, badly burned, charred black, oozing and bubbling.

The rest of her body, scarred and damaged, almost beyond recognition.

Cream looked away, covering her eyes as she did so.

The paramedics took notice of this, lifting Vanilla onto a stretcher.

As they laid her down, Vanilla gasped for air, terrifying everyone, all of them screaming at the shock.

"The woman is still alive, quick, get her to the hospital, stat!" One of the paramedics told the driver.

"I'm coming with you." Cream said to them.

"Kid, there's no time, we have to-." He started before Cream interrupted him.

"That's my mom in there, you're letting me go with you!" Cream demanded, hopping into the back of the ambulance.

While one of them closed the doors, allowing it, the other shook his head as if he were waking out of a weird dream.

As they drove away, Cream looked at her mother, unable to stop her weeping.

Reaching out, she held onto her mothers hand.

"I'm sorry." Cream whimpered.

* * *

 **Later at the hospital.**

Vanilla had been rushed into surgery upon arrival.

Cream watched as they wheeled her in, seeing her go past the doors, out of her sight.

Hours had passed as everyone awaited someone to inform them of Vanilla's condition, in the waiting room.

As tensions arose, Jo decided to break the silence.

"What exactly happened?" Jo questioned.

Cream was too distraught to answer, so Blaze had to recall the events.

"Well, we decided to take Amy out for dinner, to see if we could help her in any way." Blaze started to explain.

"One minute we were all chatting, almost like nothing had ever happened, the next thing we know, Amy gets an important call and has to leave." Blaze told him.

Jo nods, telling her to keep going.

"All of a sudden, someone screamed out of nowhere, the place had caught fire." Blaze said.

"The fire started spreading quickly, the kitchen just instantly exploded, everyone started panicking and run screaming out the doors for help." Blaze continued.

"We were trying to get out as quick as we could, by the time we got close, part of the ceiling started to give in." Blaze told him.

"Vanilla pushed us out of the way in time, but she was crushed underneath a collapsed part of it." Blaze said, starting to break.

"She told us to get to safety, the next thing we knew, someone was pulling us out of there." Blaze finished the story, figuring he knew the rest.

The very moment she ended the story, Amy barged into the waiting room, immediately hugging Cream.

"I saw the news, Cream I'm so sorry." Amy said, in tears.

Cream returned the hug, finding comfort in her friend.

Jo looked at them with sympathy, thinking that no one should ever be put through this much torment.

But something struck Jo as odd, he looked down at the tracks Amy had left when she walked in.

At first he thought it was just water, but as he looked closer, it clearly was something else entirely.

He looked at Amy, noticing her shoes and socks were drenched in it.

He stepped outside the door, seeing her tracks run down the hallway.

He crouched down, examining it, that's when he caught the scent.

His head shot up, his eyes widened, uttering one word.

"Gasoline."

* * *

 **Meanwhile.**

Vanilla remained in sedation for the time being.

Her wounds had been patched up and her burns began to subside.

As she rested, a shadow loomed over her, looking down at her was the hooded man.

The hooded man drew closer, feelings of guilt washing over him as he slowly pulled out a camera.

He took aim, ready to take a picture, his finger shaking.

But in the end, he couldn't bring himself to push the button.

He put the camera back in his hoodie pocket and instead, walked over and took a seat by her side.

"I let them get away, I could've stopped all this, but I let them get way." He said with regret in his voice.

"I couldn't even begin to describe how sorry I am." He apologized.

"I promise you this, I'll see to it, that they pay for what they've done to you." He whispered, making a vow to her.

Just then, the door opened, the doctor walking in.

"Excuse me sir, no ones allowed to visit at this time." The doctor informed him.

"My apologies, I was just leaving." The hooded man said.

"Are you a friend of the victim?" The doctor asked as the hooded man was at the door.

"You could say that." He replied.

"Will she be alright?" The hooded man asked.

"Yes, the surgery was a success, her wounds will heal with time and in a few months, she'll be back to normal, a full recovery." The doctor told him.

The hooded man nodded, thanking him and left.

As he was about to leave the hospital, someone had caught sight of him, someone he hadn't wanted to see.

Turning his head, he had been spotted by Jo.

Jo immediately broke into a run after him.

So began the chase.


	9. Nowhere To Hide

**Back again with another chapter, some of you have had some pretty good theories, so time to respond.**

 **kobevilla – The hooded man shall be revealed this chapter. As for the culprit, that is still to remain unknown for now.**

 **Epsilon – Patience, my friend.**

 **Lilly – I'm not sure I understand your question, sorry.**

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic The Hedgehog or any of the characters, they are owned by Sega and Sonic Team._

 _Disclaimer: Jojo is owned by BigWritingWorld, so special thanks to him for letting me feature him._

* * *

The hospital doors burst open as the hooded man ran out, evading the pursuit of the the detective.

Jo followed close behind, determined to catch the mysterious individual.

 _"This guy's been there, every step of the way since the beginning, whoever he is, he obviously has something to do with the case and I'm gonna find out what." Jo thought._

The two ran through the streets, narrowly avoiding collision with vehicles and almost causing several crashes.

Jo picked up his pace, the hooded man zigzagging his movements to throw him off.

It almost worked as Jo struggled to keep his balance.

 _"I can't get away from this guy by running, I'm gonna have to lose him." The hooded man thought._

Looking for somewhere to escape the detective, he spotted the library in the distance.

 _"Perfect." He thought._

Running into the library, he was both astounded yet unsurprised to find it completely deserted.

 _"It's a shame no one ever comes here." The hooded man thought._

Hiding behind a large shelf in the corner, he held back his breath knowing that even just one faint sound would give away his location.

He heard the doors shut and Jo's footsteps growing louder as he entered.

"Listen, I don't know who you are, but you've been interfering with this case, it's time you give this up and be taken in for questioning." Jo called out to him.

No answer was given, the hooded man struggling to hold back his breath.

"If it helps, you managed to get Scourge locked up, they might go easy on you for that." Jo said.

Jo kept walking, looking down the aisles.

The hooded man saw Jo getting closer, out of the corner of his eye.

Jo was just a few feet away from him, when he stepped out right in front of him.

"Sorry about this." The hooded man said.

The hooded man, held a book in both hands, swinging it, hitting Jo right across the face, knocking him down to the floor.

He dropped the book and ran out, leaving Jo behind.

Jo got up, rubbing his jaw in pain.

As he did, he noticed something off.

Feeling around, he noticed something was missing.

He looked down and saw what he suspected, lying on the floor was a tooth.

Picking it up, he looked at it and began to fume with anger.

"Okay, now it's personal." Jo growled.

* * *

 **Back at the Hospital.**

As the pursuit was going on, everyone else at the hospital remained unaware of the matter.

Vanilla was still unconscious, slowly healing from the damages.

As she slept, a small clicking noise could be heard.

Outside the window, the lock was being picked, someone trying to get in the room without anyone knowing.

The window unlocked, the person opening it and carefully creeping inside.

The person creeping in, clad in a dark cloak, covering their body as well as a mask.

They looked down at Vanilla, hissing in disgust.

"I don't know how you survived, but I'll make sure I don't make the same mistake." They said, their voice distorted.

The person grabbed the pillow from under Vanilla's head and began to lower it onto her face.

But before Vanilla could be smothered, they heard the voices and steps heading their way.

Cream's voice as well as the doctor's.

The person hissed in annoyance, placing the pillow back under Vanilla's head and slipping out the window, closing and locking it once more to not leave a trace.

"This isn't over." They said, glaring at Vanilla through the window.

* * *

 **Meanwhile.**

The hooded man had managed to escape.

Or so he thought.

As he entered his work station, an old worn down comic shop he was operating out of, he was met by a fist colliding with his jaw.

As he looked up, he saw Jo standing in front of him.

"An eye for an eye." Jo said, sternly.

Jo grabbed him by the collar and threw him into the wall.

The hooded man struggled to stand back up, too exhausted from the chase.

"How did you find me?" He asked.

"I asked around, they told me some suspicious hooded guy lived out here, I figured the odds were pretty good it was you." Jo told him.

"Now answer my question, who are you?" Jo demanded.

The hooded man let out a sigh of defeat.

He used the last of his strength to stand and lower his hood, revealing a beaten and bruised, blue fox.

"The names Saturn, Saturn Night."


	10. A Turn Of Events

**This is gonna be fun, and as for my responses.**

 **Epsilon – Thank you. Unfortunately that was just a typo, which I've now corrected. I appreciate the compliment.**

 **Kobevilla – Actually no, Saturn has appeared in a couple stories before. I can't promise anything, I have to keep the mystery alive, which means everyone is still a suspect. Best of luck in figuring it out, trust me, once they're revealed, it will all make sense.**

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic The Hedgehog or any of the characters, they are owned by Sega and Sonic Team._

 _Disclaimer: Jojo is owned by BigWritingWorld, so special thanks to him for letting me feature him._

 _Disclaimer: Of course, Saturn Night is owned by me._

* * *

 **October 9th.**

Saturn had spent the night in a cell, as more and more evidence found in his home was being brought in by the hour.

Photos, fingerprints and over a dozen notepads filled with details on the case the police hadn't even been aware of.

He watched intently as they brought in box after box of evidence, not falling asleep for even a second.

The sound of the door unlocking broke him out a bit from his trance.

Espio and new recruits, Mighty and Nack, escorted Saturn to interrogation.

They were fascinated by how much this guy knew, with one common question on their minds.

Who was he?

Saturn looked up as the door opened, Jo walking in, followed by officers bringing the collected evidence along.

They closed the door behind them, leaving the two of them to sit there, the opposing forces staring each other down.

Finally, Jo broke the silence, opening up the first of many notepads, smirking to show off his now repaired tooth.

"Let's start with the obvious, what is all this?" Jo questioned.

Saturn remained silent, his arms crossed and his eyes barely visible, covered by his hair.

Jo looked at him, something about this guy rang a bell in his memory.

He thought for a moment, trying to place him somewhere.

"Wait a minute!" He shouted.

Just like that, he recognized him.

Back when Jo was just a rookie, he remembered a blue fox working for the local newspaper, who constantly pestered the police for interviews, especially on high profile cases, always appearing with his camera at his side, a pen and notepad at the ready.

"Took you long enough, Jojo." Saturn said, mockingly.

"Looks like much hasn't changed around here after all, still chasing the big stories for the paper." Jo said.

"Not anymore, let's just say I've struck out on my own." Saturn told him.

"Well, you've definitely made an impression on the town, which brings me back to my question, what is all this?" Jo questions again.

"My research, every piece of information I've gathered on this case…so far." Saturn admitted.

"Well, it seems you've been busy, however this information should have been turned over to the authorities." Jo told him.

"Most of it is just theories, studying alibis and timelines, the truth is yet to be found." Saturn said.

"Then why run?" Jo asked.

"Easy, laying low was my best bet to solving this case, if everyone remained unaware of me, it would've been that much easier, but now it seems that option is no longer possible." Saturn tells him.

"What's in it for you?" Jo asks, obviously sensing a motive.

"Simple, I bring a criminal to justice, I get a story and no ones deaths will have been in vain." Saturn told him.

"Why would you care?" Jo pushes further.

"Let's just say I let them get away once already, their deaths are on my conscience and if I can do something to set things right, I will." Saturn admits.

Jo understands his reasoning, having made mistakes in his past as well.

Jo looks through some of his notes, impressed by his research and possible leads conducted in such a short time.

"We're obviously up a creek here and with Vector gone, it's only gonna be that much harder, so, if you would, I'd like for you to work with us on this case, your research could be of use to us." Jo offered, extending his hand.

Saturn was hesitant but in the end, knew he had to comply, shaking Jo's hand in agreement.

"So, where do we start?" Jo asked.

"Well, obviously we have to rule out the obvious, Sonic the Hedgehog is your prime suspect, correct?" Saturn asked.

"Yeah, the guys so guilty it's not even funny." Jo said.

"You might want to rethink that." Saturn said.

"Why?" Jo asked.

"Because, I'm the only one who knows he's innocent." Saturn told him.

* * *

 **Meanwhile.**

The atmosphere of the bakery had been hectic all day, with Vanilla in the hospital and Amy barely able keep calm from her paranoia, Cream had to step up and take over for the time.

As the sun set, Cream switched the sign to closed, preparing to lock up.

She switched off the lights and grabbed her keys, when a noise alerted her from in the kitchen, the sound of metal hitting floor, heavily.

She turned around, heading back to the kitchen, figuring something fell down.

Inside, she was surprised to see a whole shelf had collapsed, spilling utensils all over the floor.

"Great." She said sarcastically.

She leaned down to start cleaning, picking up the shelf and placing it back on the counter, thinking she would repair it before the bakery opened tomorrow morning.

She picked up the utensils one by one, unfortunately for her, she hadn't heard the footsteps approaching her from behind.

Picking up the last item, a metal pan, she looked at her reflection, gasping at what she saw, someone standing behind her.

She turned quickly, swinging the pan at the person, only for them to grab her arm and twist it, making her drop the pan to the floor.

Using their other hand, they grabbed her by the throat and carried her away.

Within the bakery walls, all that could be heard was screaming…screaming…screaming…silence.


	11. Execution

**Yeah, that last one even I have some regrets writing, but, what's done is done and it's time to respond.**

 **Guest and Epsilon – I know, it is sad.**

 **Lilly – Thank you. As for your question, the amount is still up in the air.**

 **Kobevilla – Once again, best of luck in figuring it out.**

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic The Hedgehog or any of the characters, they are owned by Sega and Sonic Team._

 _Disclaimer: Jojo is owned by BigWritingWorld, so special thanks to him for letting me feature him._

 _Disclaimer: Of course, Saturn Night is owned by me._

* * *

 **October 10th.**

Another sleepless night had gone by.

Saturn had been informing the officers of his findings he had gathered over time, Jo closely analyzing them for any sign of a sure culprit, no matter how minuscule.

Jo was thinking about what Saturn had mentioned earlier about Sonic being innocent, it seemed so odd to him that someone as cruel as Sonic wasn't responsible.

"Hey, Saturn, why exactly isn't Sonic a suspect?" Jo asked.

Saturn pulled out a file and put it on the desk in front of Jo.

"The night of October 1st, when Sonic left, he wasn't exactly lying when he said he was home." Saturn said.

"What do you mean?" Jo asked.

"Lets just say I asked around, turns out Sonic was spending a little quality time with someone, a bartender from Scourge's club." Saturn told him.

Jo felt like he had some sort of breakthrough, but at the same time, pieces still didn't seem to fit.

They had still yet to find out who was driving the truck that night, it could've been Scourge, but why would he go after Shadow?

"Which bartender was it exactly?" Jo questioned.

"It was a chipmunk named Sally, sweet girl, a little too stuck up but what can you do?" Saturn said.

Jo remembered that day at Scourge's club, seeing the two bartenders behind the counter.

"See if you can contact Sally and any of the other bartenders who work there." Jo told Nack.

"I'm on it." Nack said.

Saturn looked at the file again, looking at the pictures of Sonic, most of them were taken at night.

He looked at the details when he had a weird thought.

He walked over to the desk, pulling out another one of his own files, a file on Shadow the Hedgehog.

Placing a picture of Shadow right next to Sonic, in the dark, both seemed to take similar shapes.

"That's it!" Saturn shouted.

"What's it?" Jo asked.

"Jo, what if the one were looking for wasn't after Shadow in the first place?" Saturn started speaking about his theory.

"You mean?" Jo asked.

"Yes, in the dark Shadow could've easily been mistaken for Sonic, the culprit was obviously looking to get Sonic and when he saw the hedgehog in the dark he immediately went after him, it explains why after Shadow fell, the car suddenly stopped, they probably realized they went after the wrong guy and drove off, it all makes sense." Saturn explained everything.

"Impressive, the question is, who would want to get rid of Sonic?" Jo said.

"Who wouldn't?" Nack joked, making everyone laugh.

"Yeah, but in all seriousness, that does seem to be almost everyone." Jo said.

"We'll be able to narrow it down in no time." Saturn reassured him.

The next minute, Mighty entered the room, holding a slip of paper and handed it to Saturn.

"Hey, I got the details on Vanilla's recovery, the doctor says she'll be out by next week." Mighty says.

"Perfect." Saturn says.

Saturn looked at his watch and began to get ready to leave.

"Where are you going?" Jo asked.

"The bakery should be opening soon, I want to tell Cream the good news." Saturn told him.

"She doesn't even know you, also, why are you so concerned?" Jo asked him.

"Like I said before, if I'd have gotten them when I had the chance, Vanilla wouldn't have been hurt and neither of them would've had to suffer, let's just say, I'm taking some responsibility." Saturn admitted.

"What happened with that anyway, how did you let them get away?" Jo questioned.

"It's complicated, I'll tell you later." Saturn said with a sigh.

Jo nodded and decided to join him in heading down to see Cream.

* * *

 **Later at the Bakery.**

Jo and Saturn were surprised to see that the lights were still shut off and the sign still read closed.

It was only five minutes to opening and usually people were waiting outside, looking through the window as Cream prepared pastries for the awaiting customers before finally unlocking the door.

"Cream may have still been distraught, going into work alone may not have been the smartest idea for her." Jo said.

"That's true." Saturn said as he leaned against the door.

Just like that, he fell over, the door hadn't been locked the previous night.

Jo helped Saturn up and the two walked in slowly.

"Hello?" Jo called out, but there was no answer.

"Maybe Cream didn't leave." Saturn suggested.

Little did he know how right he was.

As they headed closer to the back, something had become apparent to them.

Jo and Saturn noticed a pungent, disgusting odor in the air, almost making them nauseous.

Curious as to what it was, they entered the kitchen, finding the oven still on.

Jo and Saturn coughed as the fumes overpowered them.

Jo turned off the oven, waving away the smoke surrounding it.

"Whatever it was, it's burnt now." Jo said, in between coughs.

As the smoke cleared, Jo put on mitts, carefully grasping the handle which was still hot.

He slowly pulled down, opening up the oven door.

From there, the tray fell down, the large mass placed on top of it falling to the floor.

The two of them jumped back in horror, the charred mass just laying there.

Saturn peered down, trying to get a look at what it was.

As he looked closer, he immediately recognized the eyes staring up at him.

He covered his mouth, barely able to breath, holding back both his sickness and cries of regret and sorrow.

Jo looked down at what was once a wonderful person.

What was once, Cream.


	12. Lies and Deceit

**With another one lost, the situation has become even more critical. What will they do to take this criminal down? Let's find out.**

 **Epsilon – No, he doesn't have a role in this story.**

 **Lilly and Guest – True. As for their reactions to this tragedy, you will see later on.**

 **Rotark – That seems to be a popular guess, who knows? maybe it is.**

 **Kobevilla – Yep. Feel free to discuss your theories.**

 **Shadow Hedgi – I know.**

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic The Hedgehog or any of the characters, they are owned by Sega and Sonic Team._

 _Disclaimer: Jojo is owned by BigWritingWorld and DarkFlame is owned by Epsilon Massacre 1987, so special thanks to them for letting me feature them._

 _Special thanks to Rotark for letting me feature him._

 _Disclaimer: Of course, Saturn Night is owned by me._

* * *

No one said a word, after all, what could you say after all this?

As they carried away the charred remains, nothing but dread could be felt that day.

Their hope diminished, their peace of mind challenged, their friend gone.

Jo and Saturn stood there at the end of the block, looking on as they drove away.

"Saturn?" Jo spoke up.

"Yeah?" Saturn replied.

"Whatever tricks you got up your sleeve, you better use them." Jo told him.

Saturn sighed, falling back on the brick wall behind them.

 _"Hopefully she's found something." Saturn thought._

Saturn pulled out his phone and started to dial.

"Who are you calling?" Jo asked.

"Someone who can hopefully help." Saturn said.

Saturn waited for whoever he was calling to pick up.

After a few rings, he heard their voice on the line.

"Hello."

* * *

 **October 12th.**

Two days had passed and after much speculation, the authorities came forward and told the town of Cream's demise.

No one could believe it, no one wanted to believe it.

Everyone in town loved Cream and Vanilla, they were always there with smiles on their faces, serving delicious sweets and to just brighten everyone's day.

Like the weather had been that month, their sunshine had been taken away.

 _"Who would want to hurt them?" Everyone thought._

Finally, after much deliberation with his associates, Mayor Rotark called a town meeting to announce his plan for the situation.

Rotark stepped towards the podium, testing the microphone before addressing the citizens.

"Ladies and Gentleman, as you know, recently our town has fallen victim to the acts of a madman and as a result we've lost beloved members of our community." Mayor Rotark began his speech.

"To combat these crimes, we are enacting a town wide curfew, no citizen outside of law enforcement shall be permitted to be outside their residence after 9:00 PM." Mayor Rotark stated.

While many agreed with the actions taken, the teens groaned in annoyance, unable to grasp the severity of the situation.

"As of now, until the culprit is caught, we will temporarily cancel the Halloween carnival." Mayor Rotark announced.

Right at that statement, the teenagers and children booed, their parents trying to quiet them down and telling them to show respect.

"I realize that these actions may inconvenience some of you, but you must understand that we must do everything in our power to protect all of you from the same fate as your peers." Mayor Rotark stated.

"Thank you." He simply said and left the stage.

As everyone was escorted out by the authorities, Mayor Rotark was escorted to his car and taken back to his office.

Upon returning, he shut the doors behind him and locked them, making sure no one could come in unannounced.

"You can come out now, I know you're there." He said with an unamused look on his face.

As the lightning struck down, a figure appeared, a familiar figure dressed in a cloak.

"So, has the plan taken affect?" The cloaked figure asked.

"Yes, I've put the curfew in place, he'll be in his home with nowhere to run." Mayor Rotark said.

"Perfect." The cloaked figure said.

"That is if you'll hold up your end of the bargain." Rotark added.

"I can assure you Mayor, once he's out of the way, your town will be safe again." The cloaked said.

"Very well then." Rotark said, turning to his cabinet to grab a drink.

As he poured it, he turned around to see the cloaked figure had vanished.

* * *

 **Meanwhile.**

Jo and Saturn had driven out of town earlier that day, to meet up with a friend of Saturn's.

"So, who exactly is this girl?" Jo asked.

Saturn hesitated a minute, trying to focus on the road.

Finally, he answered.

"She's an informant of mine, she helps me collect info for cases." Saturn told him.

Jo nodded, figuring it made sense he couldn't do it all on his own.

Saturn suddenly stopped the car.

"We're here." Saturn said.

Jo looked out the window to see a lone, rickety looking, old house.

"Seriously?" He said.

Saturn nodded and got out of the car, Jo doing the same.

As they approached the front yard, the doors burst open, revealing a person wearing a mask.

 _"What the?!" Jo thinks._

The person then screams and pulls out a chainsaw, revving it up and then breaking into a run straight towards them.

Jo in a panic, begins to run back down the road, the maniac on his tail.

"Saturn!" Jo calls out.

He looks back to see Saturn, just standing at the front lawn still, rolling his eyes as if to say he's not impressed.

 _"How is he not freaked out?" Jo wonders._

Unfortunately, Jo trips, falling into the mud.

As he looks back up, he sees the masked maniac towering before him.

He looks on in terror, until.

The figure suddenly breaks out into laughter.

Jo looks at them, confused.

He recognized the laughter as feminine, wondering what was going on.

"Oh man, you should've seen your face, you were all like, help me, help me!" She said, mocking him with a fake horrified expression and voice.

Taking off the mask, she revealed her face.

Saturn showed up just a few seconds afterword.

"Jo, I see you met Darkflame, Darkflame, this is Jo." He introduced them.

Darkflame waves hello, Jo still sitting in the mud, a bit petrified.

Saturn turned to Darkflame.

"Well, I can always count on you for a warm welcome."


	13. Just Their Luck

**Well, were up to lucky chapter thirteen and it seems things are shaping up to be quite odd.**

 **As always, it's time to respond.**

 **Guest – You're about to find out. As for who the woman was at the beginning, it's funny that you should mention her.**

 **Epsilon – Glad it worked out.**

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic The Hedgehog or any of the characters, they are owned by Sega and Sonic Team._

 _Disclaimer: Jojo is owned by BigWritingWorld and DarkFlame is owned by Epsilon Massacre 1987, so special thanks to them for letting me feature them._

 _Disclaimer: Of course, Saturn Night is owned by me._

* * *

Darkflame opened the front door, welcoming them into her home.

While it remained dingy and damaged on the outside, the house had been clean, organized and immaculate on the inside, a metaphor that basically summed up many of them while remaining the opposite definition to others.

"Make yourselves at home." She said.

Saturn and Jo walked into the living room, Jo taking a seat on the couch while Saturn leaned against the mantle atop the fireplace.

Darkflame, now dressed normally, entered the room, Jo studying her appearance.

Her fur was dark as night, her quills styled like hair, ending in red and orange streaks.

Her skin a bright caramel color with a scar running down her cheek.

But what struck him as odd, was what she was.

He had never seen anyone like her before and for the life of him, he couldn't place in his mind what species she was.

She resembled a hedgehog, but weirdly enough she showed traits of a fox, which confused him to no end.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer." Darkflame joked, noticing Jo staring.

"Sorry, it's just…forgive me for asking but, what are you?" Jo asked.

Darkflame chuckled at his question, thankfully it hadn't been the first time she was asked.

"I'm a hedgefox, a hybrid." Darkflame said.

Jo just went along with it and let Saturn do the talking.

"What'd you find out?" Saturn asked.

Darkflame smirked, remaining silent.

"Would you tell us, please." Saturn said, rolling his eyes.

"That's better, and as for the Sonic situation, I did manage to find out one fact everyone glossed over." Darkflame said.

"Oh really?" Jo said in disbelief.

"What would that be?" Jo asked.

"From what you've told me, everyone in town seems to have grudge against Sonic, now that his reputation is in the gutter, am I correct?" Darkflame asked.

"You are." Saturn said.

"But you forgot to factor in one thing, anyone outside of town." Darkflame pointed out.

Both of them looked at her in confusion.

"I managed to track down this Sonic and follow his steps for a little while, of those times he met four different women in various locations." Darkflame told them.

"So, he's a cheat, tell us something we don't know." Jo said.

Darkflame looked at him, obviously annoyed.

"Three of those four women were bartenders in Scourge's club, however the fourth was different." She said.

"I read over Amy Rose's statements, she said there was a woman who hesitated because she wanted Sonic to tell Amy the truth." She reminded them.

"A few nights ago, I trailed Sonic, I was curious to see why he would go to Station Square, turns out he was trying get to that woman and when he arrived, she was less than thrilled to see him." Darkflame informed them of what she saw.

"After that, it appeared that Sonic tried to take advantage again but she managed to fight him off." Darkflame said.

"So how does this help us catch our guy?" Jo questioned.

Darkflame turned to Saturn, looking at him with condolences.

"Her name is Julie-Su, she works for Purr Industries." Darkflame revealed.

"As in, one of the biggest companies on the planet?" Jo asked, rhetorically.

"Yeah and get this, guess who her ex-boyfriend was." Darkflame said.

Darkflame paused before answering.

"Knuckles himself." Darkflame told them.

"You've gotta be kidding me." Jo groaned.

"Nope, and it turns out Knuckles had feelings for Amy before Sonic cheated, so he broke up with Julie-Su, let's just say she wasn't too thrilled being dumped for Amy, one thing led to another and she thought going after Amy's boyfriend would make him jealous, poor girl had no idea what she was getting into." Darkflame told them.

"Alright, so we got another lead, but how're we supposed to talk to her?" Jo asked.

"We couldn't get access to that place even if we tried and aside from that, we don't have much of a window of opportunity to speak with her outside of her work." Jo pointed out.

"Which is why we have one chance to question her, at the annual Purr Industries Masquerade." Darkflame told them.

"Yeah right, that's the most exclusive event of the year, how're we gonna get in?" Jo questioned.

Darkflame reached into her pocket and pulled out four tickets to the Masquerade.

"How did you?" Saturn asked.

"Let's just say I have a way with words." Darkflame said.

"Alright, looks like we have a party to go to on the 24th." Jo said, taking his ticket with a grin.

Saturn took his ticket before noticing two things.

"Hey, how come you have four tickets?" Saturn asked.

"I'm taking my boyfriend, I may be working but it is still a party." Darkflame said.

Saturn nodded and asked his follow-up question.

"Earlier, you looked at me weirdly, why?" Saturn asked.

Darkflame hesitated in her answer but felt he deserved to know.

"When I was tracking down Sonic, I caught a glimpse of Julie-Su's apartment, I noticed something weird and when she was gone, I went to investigate." Darkflame started.

Darkflame hesitated once more before finally spitting out the words.

"I…found a cloak hidden in her room...it was drenched and stained red."

* * *

 **Later that night, back in town.**

The rain poured down that night, the winds picking up, stronger than ever.

As many people locked their doors and shut off the lights, most of them remained awake in fear.

But one had not been so lucky.

Lightning struck down as the cloaked figure loomed outside.

They stared at the house stood before them.

Slowly, they crept forward, walking through the grass, twigs snapping underneath their feet.

Trying not to make a sound, they carefully opened the window, maneuvering into the house.

Now that they were in, the easy part began.

The figure ascended up the stairs, making their way to the room at the end of the hall.

The door creaked open as they turned the handle.

Entering the room, the figure towered over the person hidden by covers, sleeping peacefully.

"Finally." The figure whispered.

Grabbing the cover by the ends, the person inside flailing about, trying to break free, the figure carried it over to the bedroom mirror, hoisted it onto their shoulder and then swung it like a bat, smashing the body into the mirror, effectively breaking it.

As the shards of glass fell to the floor, the noise had alerted people in the other room and another in the bathroom.

Quickly, the figure locked the door to keep them out of their way.

Finally, the figure grabbed a shard of glass and with one hard downward swipe, the person trapped within the covers, stopped moving.

They had done it, they were no more.

"Goodbye Sonic." The cloaked figure said with glee.

"Hey, open up, hey!" Someone screamed on the other side of the door.

The cloaked figure gasped, recognizing the voice, it was Sonic the Hedgehog himself.

 _"Wait, then that means." The cloaked figure thought, realizing their error._

Pulling back the covers, they saw, instead of the hedgehog, a chipmunk.

Sally Acorn lay there in a pool of crimson.


	14. Guilt

**Alright, back again. It's been fun writing this story and I really appreciate all the support. Thank you all so much and of course, time to respond.**

 **Gililoquy – Yep. That's what I've been saying since the beginning.**

 **Shadow Hedgi – A lot apparently.**

 **Guest – You are correct on that, she is.**

 **Sad Little demon – You're not wrong there and don't worry, they will eventually…maybe.**

 **Lilly – My apologies.**

 **Alright, now back to the story.**

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic The Hedgehog or any of the characters, they are owned by Sega and Sonic Team._

 _Disclaimer: Jojo is owned by BigWritingWorld, so special thanks to him for letting me feature him._

 _Disclaimer: Of course, Saturn Night is owned by me._

* * *

Saturn had been alone, left at the station, going over case files.

With no clear culprit in sight, Saturn used every opportunity he had to catch up on his research.

Reaching the end of a file, he groaned, rubbing his eyes from exhaustion and went to get another file.

Reaching the records room, a distinct smell filled the air, something about it seemed, familiar.

He shrugged it off for a moment, walking over to the filing cabinets.

Taking his key, he unlocked it and grasped the handle.

"Ahh!" He screamed out in pain.

Grasping his arm, he looked at his hand, seeing burn marks on his palm and fingertips.

"What the?" He said in confusion.

He looked back up to see the filing cabinet, now glowing bright orange from the heat and soon enough, melting right in front of him.

"No!" He thought in panic.

It was gone, almost everything that could help them was gone.

"Saturn." He heard his name called out in the distance.

He turned, walking over to the doorway to see if he could find out who it was, but no one was there.

"Saturn." He heard it from the opposite direction, this time closer.

Running over to the other end of the room, but still, there was no one there.

"Saturn." They said once more.

Saturn gulped, hearing it closer than ever, right behind him.

He slowly peered over his shoulder, then rapidly turned and backed away, falling down but still trying to move back, the sight before him, terrifying him.

In front of him, was the oven from the bakery.

The oven door burst open, an endless wall of flames within.

From within the flames, crawled out Cream, charred and broken, using her arm to drag herself forward.

"Saturn." She said as she got closer and closer.

"C-Cream." He stuttered.

"Why?" She wheezed out.

She coughed, ashes and smoke exiting her mouth as she did.

"I'm sorry." He said with pain and regret in his voice.

It was all he could say.

Picking himself up, he went to run, only to become petrified in fear by someone behind him.

A taller rabbit stood before him, still damaged from her encounter with a collapsing, burning building.

"Vanilla?" He said in surprise.

Vanilla grasped him by the collar, a look of hatred on her face.

"How could you let this happen to my daughter?!" Vanilla questioned, roaring in his face.

Saturn felt an emptiness in the pit of his stomach, aching pain in his head and numb in the rest of his body.

Vanilla let out a low growl and threw him back onto the floor, Cream's hand grabbing him by the leg, dragging him into the oven with her.

"No!" He cried out, becoming engulfed by the flames.

* * *

 **Reality.**

Saturn shot awake, screaming at the top of his lungs.

Jo screamed in shock from Saturn's sudden outburst, the car now swerving left to right.

Jo managed to get ahold of the wheel again, maneuvering back into control.

"What're you trying to do, get us crashed into another car?!" Jo scolded him.

Saturn had his head in hands, still shaking, covered in cold sweat, eyes wide in fear.

Jo, noticing this, handed him a bottle of water, which Saturn quickly gulped down.

It took Saturn a minute to catch his breath, noticing the time on the car radio read 11:00 PM.

"We're almost back in town, about ten more minutes." Jo told him.

Saturn said nothing, looking out the window.

"What happened?" Jo asked.

Saturn looked down at his hand, thankful to see no burn marks.

"Just a nightmare." Saturn answered.

* * *

 **Later in Town.**

Jo and Saturn had returned, hoping they would finally get a well deserved rest, unaware of the events that took place while they were gone.

Jo dropped Saturn off at his hideout, then drove back to his temporary living space.

Jo barely able to stay awake, attempted to walk up the stairs, trying to get to his bed.

Falling down repeatedly he gave up, making his way to the living room and falling onto the couch.

For a brief moment, it was peaceful, his eyes shutting, he began to slip into sleep.

It seemed he caught a break, until, of course, the case caught up to him.

The phone rang, Jo's eyes opening up in an instant.

Jo's vision blurry and his awareness leaving him, he struggled but managed to pick up the phone and press the talk button.

"Hello?" He said.

"Jo, it's Espio, where've you been, I've been calling you for the past hour?" Espio asked.

"I've been following a lead, what's happened?" Jo asked.

"We got another one, but get this, it's at Sonic's home." Espio told him.

Upon hearing those words, Jo's exhaustion took a backseat, now intrigued by this development.

"It was that Acorn girl, poor thing never saw it coming." Espio informed him.

"Bring everyone down to the station, I'll be right there." Jo ordered.

"Yes sir." Espio said and hung up the phone.

Jo hit the end button and dialed up another number.

After a few seconds the call went through.

"Hello?" He heard a tired voice say on the line.

"It's Jo, guess what?" Jo asked.

"We got another one, don't we?" Saturn asked rhetorically, knowing full well the answer.

"Yeah, how did you?" Jo began to ask before being interrupted by Saturn.

"I'm already down at the station."


	15. Tragedy Of Circumstance

**Looks like things are getting a bit more complicated, let me see if I can shed some light on a few subjects.**

 **As usual, time to respond.**

 **Epsilon – Kind of, you'll see.**

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic The Hedgehog or any of the characters, they are owned by Sega and Sonic Team._

 _Disclaimer: Jojo is owned by BigWritingWorld, so special thanks to him for letting me feature him._

 _Disclaimer: Of course, Saturn Night is owned by me._

* * *

 **October 13th.**

The morning had been excruciatingly tedious for everyone involved.

After questioning witnessing neighbors who knew absolutely nothing and a few individuals who had yet to show up, everyone started to grow irritated, dealing with this incompetence.

Lack of sleep didn't exactly help, but in the back of their minds they knew they had a responsibility to uphold and that would keep them going.

When reports broke out of Sally's unfortunate encounter, almost everyone in town assumed that Sonic was indeed the culprit.

Some of the people in town even went as far as to try and assault him as he was brought into the station, one of them holding up a tombstone with his name engraved on it for all to see.

Sonic hadn't said a word, he hadn't shrugged it off like before, he couldn't even be angry, that night had left him no longer whole.

The authorities managed to bring him safely inside, fending off the mob that was calling for the hedgehog to face penalty.

Behind him were the other two women in his house that night, Fiona Fox and a lynx they now knew as Nicole.

As they were brought into a holding cell, Sonic was immediately called in for interrogation.

Sonic followed their directions without hesitation and as they reached the door, Jo was waiting outside.

"The cuffs won't be necessary." Jo said, pulling out his key and unlocking the cuffs on Sonic's wrists.

Sonic looked at him, confused by his action but didn't question it.

Opening the door, Sonic returned to the familiar room he had a been in just a little over a week ago.

Being seated, Jo took the seat opposite him once again, a blue fox entering the room a moment later.

"Mr. Hedgehog, good to see you again." Jo said in a humorous tone.

Sonic didn't say anything, keeping his arms crossed and his head low, avoiding eye contact.

"Mr. Hedgehog, I'm Saturn Night, it's a pleasure to meet you." Saturn introduced himself, extending his hand for Sonic to shake, only to be met with a cold expression.

Saturn pulled back his hand awkwardly and pulled out a few photos of Sally from the crime scene.

Sonic looked down and instantly grew outraged, grabbing the photo and tearing it up, as if they were mocking both him and her.

"Mr. Hedgehog, I suggest you calm down." Jo said.

"Save it, I know you think I'm guilty, the whole town practically think so, you may as well skip the back and forth and just lock me up now, save yourselves the time." Sonic ranted.

"Mr. Hedgehog." Saturn started before turning his tone more sympathetic.

"Sonic, I've collected evidence over the course of this case, we know you're not guilty, of this or any of the horrendous acts committed before in this case." Saturn told him.

Sonic looked at them, a weight almost being lifted off his shoulders.

They believed him, they knew he wasn't guilty, they would be the ones to make sure Sally would be avenged.

"So, do you have any idea who did it?" Sonic asked.

"We have a few leads we're working on, but we do have some questions for you we need answered." Jo told him.

"Sure." Sonic cooperated.

"Alright, first of all, why were Fiona, Sally and Nicole at your house that night?" Jo asked.

"After you locked up Scourge, the club had to be shut down temporarily, they needed a place to stay, so I offered." Sonic explained.

"You offered room in your home to the girlfriend of a criminal, and two bartenders, what did your parents think of this?" Jo asked, amused by his actions.

Sonic's mood once again shifted, now to a more depressed state.

"Mr. Hedgehog?" Jo asked.

"They aren't here." Sonic said.

"I'm sorry, what?" Saturn asked, wondering what he meant.

"They aren't here." Sonic said again.

"Then, where are they?" Saturn asked.

"I don't know." Sonic said, his arms crossed and eyes closed, the painful memories flooding back.

"A crime was committed in their own home, they have to be notified." Jo pointed out.

"It isn't their home, they haven't lived there in twelve years." Sonic told them.

Both of them looked at Sonic in surprise, wondering what he meant by his remarks.

Sonic sighed, trying to prepare himself as he began to explain.

"My parents abandoned me when I was five." Sonic began.

Instantly the mood shifted, everything seeming uncomfortable and tragic.

"It was my fifth birthday, I noticed something different, my parents looking at me, like something was wrong." Sonic continued.

"I noticed later that night, they started packing suitcases, I asked what they were for, they just changed the subject and sent me to bed." Sonic said.

"After they tucked me in, I fell asleep, thinking that maybe they were going to surprise me, maybe go on vacation or something." Sonic said, starting to choke up a bit.

"I woke up that morning, I ran into the room to wake them up, but they weren't there, I ran downstairs, thinking they must have woke up before me, but they weren't there either." Sonic said, the memories starting to overwhelm him.

"I called out to them, but there was no answer." Sonic said.

"I waited for them, I sat by the front door for a few days, waiting for them to walk through." Sonic recounted.

"That whole summer I waited for them, but then, I eventually found out what happened." Sonic said.

"I found a note from them in their room, saying they were leaving because I was a mistake, they figured a kid wouldn't understand, they left my Uncle's savings for me to get by on and I've been living off it ever since." Sonic told them.

"Eventually I had to go back to school, so I had to learn how to do things on my own, whenever anyone asks, I just say my parents are out of town or busy, I figured once I turned eighteen, I'd be able to move away from here and start over." Sonic concluded.

Saturn nearly shed a tear while Jo just shook his head at how messed up the whole ordeal was.

"I know I've made a lot of mistakes, a few I can't take back, I know I have no excuse, but right now, I want to be able to put that aside, for everyone else's sake." Sonic told them.

Jo got up from his seat and placed cuffs on Sonic once more.

"What are you doing?" Saturn questioned.

"He's not safe out there, Mr. Hedgehog, if you're willing, we'd like to keep you in police custody until the situation is dealt with and the real culprit is caught." Jo explained.

Sonic looked down at the cuffs then looked back up at Jo, nodding yes.

The three exited the room, informing the officers of the situation and placing Sonic in a cell.

"Hey, about this lead, who is it?" Sonic asked.

"An old acquaintance of yours, Miss Julie-Su." Saturn told him.

Sonic looked down upon hearing the name, feeling shame.

"She may be a suspect but…if you see her, tell her I'm sorry, I know it doesn't mean much coming from me, but right now, I need to make things right." Sonic asked of them.

"I'll be sure to tell her." Saturn promised.

Sonic nodded as a thank you and they parted ways.

"So, wait, if Sonic is in custody, what if the crimes stop so that people think he's the real criminal?" Saturn asked.

"Easy, we'll just tell people he's undergoing intense interrogation and will be released later today, if another crime happens, we'll reveal that Sonic was in our custody the whole time and that he couldn't have been the guy." Jo reveals his plan.

Sonic was far from excused and would pay for his crimes, but not the crimes of another.

So, the trap was set.


	16. The Effect

**The day further approaches where will they will unmask this maniac, but for now, let us deal with some of the aftermaths of their crimes.**

 **Time to respond.**

 **Guest – Unfortunately, he didn't.**

 **Lilly – It appears they have made much progress.**

 **Epsilon – Yes, that chapter may seem a bit much, but these are things that can happen, situations and emotions that are potentially and sadly realistic. Thank you.**

 **Megaman07 – That it is.**

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic The Hedgehog or any of the characters, they are owned by Sega and Sonic Team._

 _Disclaimer: Jojo is owned by BigWritingWorld, so special thanks to him for letting me feature him._

 _Special thanks to Rotark for letting me feature him._

 _Disclaimer: Of course, Saturn Night is owned by me._

* * *

 **October 17th.**

With the plan in motion and Sonic paying his dues with his time in imprisonment, the past few days seemed eerily calm.

No acts of malice had been committed which made people that much more paranoid, constantly fearing that moment when he would strike again.

The streets had remained empty, most people choosing to remain inside, leaving it to look like, for a lack of a better term, a ghost town.

Unfortunately for a few individuals, the severity of the problems to them, was just one big joke.

A lone green hawk walked down the now fitting hollow streets, the only sounds heard being the cold wind and the sound of leaves.

Sneaking down to the warehouse district, he carefully avoided detection.

Or so he thought.

"For someone claiming to be so cool, you're terrible at stealth." Someone said, sneaking up behind him.

He spasms in surprise before turning around to see his friend, Wave.

He put his hands to his chest, feeling his heartbeat go crazy from both the scare and her.

Wave just smirked in amusement, always proud of her intimidating nature.

"The place is set, everyone in school is gonna be there." Wave said.

"Perfect." He said.

 _"With Sonic out of the way, it's time I made my move." He thought._

The guy's name was Jet, or to everyone in school, a Sonic wannabe.

He was on the same team as Sonic and they both hung around with the same crowd, but for some reason, Sonic was the one who got the spotlight, while he was just seen as a poor man's copy.

With that mindset, he was determined to carve a name for himself and overshadow Sonic.

By any means necessary.

* * *

 **Mayor's Office.**

Mayor Rotark had numerous complaints coming in from the townspeople, their paranoia getting the better of them as they imagined sounds in the night, seeing intruders and strange presences.

They wanted actions taken, they wanted to feel safe in their own homes again.

In Rotark's mind, he had an ace up his sleeve.

He already had connections to the person in question, all he had to do was wait for their next meeting and apprehend them, figuring he would be seen as a hero in the eyes of everyone.

Walking into his office, he shuddered, seeing them already seated at his desk.

"It seems we have a bit of a problem." The cloaked person said.

Instantly, all the confidence the mayor had, suddenly vanished in the presence of this unexpected company.

Rotark not wanting to show his weakness, decided to play along.

He closed the door behind him and locked it, leaving them both inside.

"What problem would that be?" Rotark asked.

"Sonic the Hedgehog is currently in prison, away from any chance of me ending his life!" The cloaked person said, getting more frustrated with each word.

 _"I knew I shouldn't have informed them of that." Rotark thought, regretting many of his decisions at the_ _moment._

"He's out of your way, as we agreed, isn't that enough?" Rotark asked, sounding more panicked.

"No, I want him eliminated, buried and forgotten." The cloaked person said with a growl.

"I'm sorry, but I can't allow this any longer, our deal is off, I'm turning you in." Rotark said.

Rotark began to approach them, only to be suddenly knocked back and a moment later, have a blade to his throat.

"Such a poor choice, but you forget, I have leverage in this situation and I don't think the people would approve of you making deals and being in league with a psychopath, now would they?" The cloaked person threatened.

Rotark looked up at them and sighed.

"No, they wouldn't." He said in disappointment.

"Good, now, you're going to demand that they release Sonic immediately, understood?" The cloaked person ordered.

Rotark nodded yes and with the blink of an eye, the cloaked person was gone.

* * *

 **Later That Night.**

While many were paranoid, none of them had it as bad as Amy.

Amy had grown sickly, her once bright pink fur, now faded, her eyes surrounded by dark circles from lack of sleep and her body now weak and feeble.

The endless onslaught of death and despair over the past two and a half weeks resulted in her breakdown, leading to starvation, illness and constant panic attacks.

Two days before, her parents had come home to find her on the floor, passed out.

She was rushed to the hospital and after an hour they had managed to revive her.

At the moment, she was finally sleeping, the first good nights sleep she'd had in awhile.

However, ironically, the stuff of nightmares looked at her, watching her from a distance.

The cloaked figure had returned to the hospital, this time with a different intention.

Slipping through the window without making a sound, they crept towards her hospital bed.

Staring down with hurt in their eyes, they leaned down and kissed her cheek.

"Soon, my dear, everything will be alright soon." They whispered.

From out of their cloak they pulled an object, a red rose.

Leaving it on top of the drawer beside the bed, they took one last look at Amy before slipping back out the window, back into the night.

* * *

 **Meanwhile At The Station.**

While one had entered the hospital, another had been released.

Earlier that day, Vanilla had been released.

However, what was once a day she couldn't wait for, was now a day she had been dreading.

She had been informed of Cream's demise.

Needless to say, nothing could have prepared her it, her own child, gone and in such a brutal, heartless way, that Vanilla could barely function.

The world seemed distant to her, while she physically understood everything and kept moving, her mind was distorted and blurry.

It didn't help that she had been asked to identify her daughter at the morgue, like every force of nature imaginable was trying to break her.

With that all said and done, Vanilla had come to the station.

She walked slowly with her head low.

"Ma'am, you can't go in there, ma'am." Mighty told her, but she didn't stop.

Vanilla walked through the doors, making her way down the hall.

"Ma'am, stop where you are." Mighty threatened to take action against her.

"It's alright." Someone called out.

They both turned to see Jo and Saturn.

"She's permitted at this moment." Jo said.

Mighty nodded and returned to the front.

Vanilla stood there, just looking at them.

After a few seconds, Jo spoke up.

"Vanilla?" Jo said.

Instantly, Vanilla's fists curled up, tears starting to flow down to her cheeks.

She had hazy memories of the hooded man at the hospital and recognized him.

She ran forward, crying out, hitting her fist against his chest, not enough to hurt him but enough to let it out.

Jo looked at Saturn like he was crazy, Saturn was just standing there, taking it as if he deserved it.

Finally after so many repeated times, Saturn grabbed her arm and slowly set it back to her side, looking her in the eyes.

With her in this state, there was only one thing he could do, tell her the truth.

"If I could've given my life, so she could have hers, I would have." He whispered.

With that, Vanilla broke down, weeping onto his shoulder, Saturn trying to comfort her.

Saturn looked up at Jo, a look in his eyes unseen before.

A look that meant, that he was gonna make them pay, no matter what.


	17. Masquerade

**It's finally time to investigate in Station Square and to see what Julie-Su is up to.**

 **Of course, time to respond.**

 **Rotark – Yes, yes it does.**

 **Guest – No, that would be weird.**

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic The Hedgehog or any of the characters, they are owned by Sega and Sonic Team._

 _Disclaimer: Jojo is owned by BigWritingWorld and DarkFlame is owned by Epsilon Massacre 1987, so special thanks to them for letting me feature them._

 _Special thanks to PrettyPurr for letting me feature her._

 _Disclaimer: Of course, Saturn Night is owned by me._

* * *

 **October 24th.**

Jo and Saturn had rented a car in case they were to be spotted, picking up Darkflame along the way.

Darkflame pressed her face up against the window as the city came into view, admiring it in all its glory.

She had been there before, but was always amazed by just how spectacular it was.

"Home sweet home." Jo said.

He'd only been in Hollow Hill for a short time, but to him it felt like forever.

"So, what's the plan?" Saturn asked.

"My place is down across the street from the casino, we can stay there for the time being." Jo told them.

"I'll find our masks and attire for this evening." Darkflame said.

"So, what am I doing?" Saturn asked.

"Oh, you'll be the one sneaking into Julie-Su's apartment and retrieving the cloak for evidence." Darkflame said, nonchalantly.

"Got it…wait, what?" Saturn questioned.

"You brought your hoodie didn't you?" Darkflame asked.

"Yeah." Saturn said.

"You're the only one of us who can sneak in there undetected, Jo doesn't have the stealth expertise and I'd probably just end up breaking something, not necessarily on accident." Darkflame pointed out.

Saturn breathed a sigh but obviously took the task, knowing she was right.

* * *

 **Later at Julie-Su's apartment.**

The apartment was all too easy to sneak into.

Saturn crawled in through the window, his hoodie hiding his face.

 _"Alright, Darkflame said it was in Julie-Su's room." Saturn reminded himself._

He moved carefully throughout it, as to not leave a trace.

He opened each door until he managed to find her room.

He opened the closet door, going through the clothes that were hung up, but no cloak was found.

He searched through the boxes below them, but none of them contained the cloak.

Throwing caution aside, he began to look through the entire room, looking under the bed covers, looking in every drawer and even going as far as to search the bathroom, but he had unfortunately found nothing.

He rested his elbow on the drawer for a moment, leaning against it to think.

His eyesight wandered around the room, finally settling on the bed.

 _"It's always the last place you look." He thought._

Crouching down, he pulled up the sheet to look under the bed, finding a box hidden underneath.

"Jackpot." He said.

Pulling it out from underneath, he opened the lid, his expression turning to disappointment as soon as he saw what was inside.

Inside, wasn't a cloak, but a small slip of paper.

Turning it over, his eyes went wide at the words written on the page.

"Fooled you." He read aloud.

 _"She knows we're here." He thought in panic._

Just like that, a noise outside the room alerted him.

He quickly put the note back into the box, hiding it under the bed once more, as well as crawling under the bed to avoid whoever it was.

Julie-Su walked into the room, Saturn holding his breath back to not get caught.

Julie-Su sat on the bed, Saturn close to being crushed underneath, almost exhaling.

He heard her dialing a number and the tone on the line.

"Hey Pretty, it's Julie, yep, everything's going according to plan." Julie-Su told her.

"Alright, see you there in a few." She told her and hung up.

Getting off the bed, she went into the bathroom, Saturn taking the opportunity to escape.

 _"Now or never." He thought as he crawled out from under the bed._

Running back to the main room, he slipped the window back open, jumped down and ran into the streets.

* * *

 **That Evening.**

The three of them had arrived, all dressed in formal attire.

Saturn and Jo were dressed in tuxedos, both wearing simple masks, Jo's being gold and Saturn's being silver.

Darkflame had worn a gothic black dress with a black mask to match.

She had saw her date already there and went off to join him.

Saturn and Jo walked in, joining the festivities.

"So, what do we do?" Saturn asked.

"We have conversations, meet a few people, hang out for a bit, then when Julie-Su shows up, we pull her aside for questioning." Jo explained, walking off to join the crowd over by the bar.

 _"Talk to people, have a conversation, yeah, I can do that." Saturn thought, panicking._

He wasn't that experienced on social gatherings and immediately walked over to a corner, hoping no one would notice him.

There must have been hundreds of people at this party, it was crazy.

All of a sudden, everyone's conversations stopped, turning their attention to the grand staircase, their gazes set on the woman descending down.

Saturn saw her also noticing everyone in the room entranced by her.

She seemed to have a charm to her, her brown skin, brown eyes, accompanied by her curly hair, freckles and a smile on her face that would brighten anyone's day.

"Who is she?" Saturn whispered.

Some people next to him looked at him like he was crazy.

"That's Mr. Purr's daughter, they call her Pretty Purr, for obvious reasons, everyone in here loves her." One of the guys explained.

"She's also everyone's top choice for a date, so I suggest you back off." Another guy threatened, grabbing Saturn by the throat and pushed him up against the wall.

"Not my intention, I don't even know her." Saturn said, his voice straining as the guy tightened his grip.

"Dude, she's coming closer, let the guy go." Another guy told him.

He glared at Saturn and let go, leaving Saturn there in pain.

Sure enough, atop the staircase was Julie-Su talking with someone.

Darkflame joined up with Jo at the bar while her boyfriend went outside for some air.

"Almost time." Darkflame said.

"Yeah, still, if she knew we were coming, why would she still show up?" Jo questioned.

"Who knows?" Darkflame said.

Saturn had informed them of the missing cloak and the note and needless to say, without evidence, it would be that much more difficult to catch them.

After a few minutes, the band had begun to play a slower tune, everyone flooding to the dance floor.

Saturn still remained in the corner, hoping they would be able to question Julie-Su soon so he would be able to leave.

"Hey, Miss Purr, wanna dance?" One of the guys asked.

"No way, dance with me." Another guy interjected.

"If anyone's gonna dance with her, it's gonna be me." Another one said.

The guys got into an argument over her, surrounding her.

Pretty Purr looked around, trying to find an out in this situation.

Finally, she spotted Saturn, hiding in the corner.

She made her way towards him, all the guys watching as she walked off.

Saturn looked up, curious as to what was going on.

Pretty Purr stood there in front of him, before extending her hand out to him.

"May I have this dance?" She asked.

"I…uh…I don't know how." He told her, obviously already nervous and the crowd now staring at them not helping.

"Well then, no better time to learn." She said, dragging him off to the dance floor.

The band resumed playing and everyone else continued where they left off.

Pretty Purr guided Saturn through the steps, helping him understand the rhythm and soon enough, he got the hang of it, albeit still a little awkward.

"Hey, why did you ask me, all those guys seemed more than happy to join you out here?" Saturn asked.

"One, they're only after two things, money and to them, just a pretty face." She told him, instantly getting the picture.

"Sorry about that." Saturn said.

"Don't be, that's all anyone ever sees." She said with a sense of sadness.

Saturn frowned, feeling sorry that she was treated this way.

"As for the second reason." She said, before leaning in closer to whisper in his ear.

"I know who you are." She whispered with a smirk.

"W-what?" Saturn stuttered.

"That mask isn't a very good disguise, I recognized you right away, Mr. Night." Pretty said, now with a smile.

"Have we met?" Saturn asked.

"No, we haven't been introduced, I've just been reading your stories, your research, all your cases, it's quite impressive." Pretty told him.

"T-thank you." Saturn stuttered, still surprised.

"Which begs the question, what are you doing here?" Pretty asked.

"My allies and I are here on business, we're here to interrogate an associate of yours for an investigation." Saturn told her the truth.

"Interesting, who would that be, exactly?" Pretty asked.

"Julie-Su." Saturn revealed.

Pretty Purr looked at him in shock, but then her expression changed to one of amusement.

"You won't find much info there." Pretty said.

"Why not?" Saturn asked in confusion.

"She barely ever leaves work, she only goes to her apartment for an hour a night to sleep." Pretty told him.

"Wait, what?!" Saturn said in shock.

"Yeah, there's no way she'd have the time to know anything, let alone be a suspect." Pretty said.

"Then…why was the cloak?" Saturn said to himself, Pretty hearing him.

"What cloak?" Pretty asked.

"A friend of ours had a stakeout of the place, she said she found a cloak matching that of the criminal, covered in a red substance, hidden in her closet." Saturn told her.

"Well, that's concerning." Pretty Purr said.

"Also, has she taken any nights off work?" Saturn asked.

"Only once, she said she had some business to take care of and needed some peace and quiet, why?" Pretty asked.

Meanwhile, Julie-Su had finally come downstairs.

"Alright, it's time, come on." Darkflame said.

"Wait, where's Saturn?" Jo asked.

Darkflame got a grin on her face and pointed to the dance floor.

"I think he's preoccupied." Darkflame said, showing Jo, Saturn dancing with Pretty.

Jo nodded and the two went off to interrogate Julie-Su.

"Excuse me, Ms. Su, could we talk to you for a moment?" Jo asked.

She nodded yes and the three of them wandered off to an empty hall to talk.

"So, what's this about?" Julie-Su asked.

"Ms. Su, the names Jo, I'm a detective working on a case currently, this is my associate, Ms. Darkflame, we just need to ask you a few questions." Jo told her.

"What about?" Julie-Su asked.

"Recently a wave of crimes have been committed in the town of Hollow Hill, resulting in numerous deaths, we have reason to believe that you are responsible for these crimes." Jo informed her.

"That's insane, it's impossible." Julie-Su said, insulted by the accusations.

"We have a witness that says you possess clothing that matches the description of the culprit, the clothing was also covered in a red substance." Jo told her.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Julie-Su told them.

Darkflame went to insult her but was interrupted by Saturn rushing towards them.

Saturn stopped, trying to catch his breath.

Finally, between breaths, he told them.

"It's not her." Saturn said.

"What?" Jo said, confused.

"It's not her, she's only been out of town one night, that night with Sonic, other than that, she's here at her job, she hasn't left the city which means she can't be our culprit." Saturn explained.

"But, wait, the cloak was in her closet." Darkflame pointed out.

As if on cue, someone in a cloak went rushing by, laughing maniacally.

"You mean, that cloak?" Julie-Su said.

Jo and Darkflame booked it after the figure.

"Sorry about that." Saturn apologized to Julie-Su before running after them.

The figure ran throughout the halls, the three of them close behind, trying to catch him.

At the end of the hall were the doors out and it seemed as if he was going to get away again.

That is until, help would arrive.

As they approached the doors in their pursuit, the figure ran faster, but from out of nowhere, a fist shot out from around the corner, colliding with the cloaked person, knocking him down.

The three stopped in surprise, Pretty Purr turning from around the corner and began beating him up.

She picked him back up repeatedly and kept knocking him down as if he were a punching bag.

After a few times, he begged her to stop, the three of them joining her.

"Thanks." Saturn said.

"No problem." Pretty said.

"Well then, let's see who it really is." Jo said.

Jo reached down, pulling off the mask to reveal, someone they never would've expected.

"Shadow?" The three of them said in disbelief.

"It can't be." Jo said.

"It isn't." Shadow said.

"What do you mean?" Saturn asked.

Shadow handed them a note.

Jo picked it up and read it aloud.

"Hello, if you are reading this, it appears you have successfully apprehended my servant, as I suspected, looks like you're back to square one." Jo read, crumpling the note in frustration.

"They said if I appeared at the party, that no one else would get hurt, that they'd leave everyone alone." Shadow told them.

"Well, you'll have a lot more questions to answer down at the station." Jo said.

The three of them took Shadow away, their destination, Hollow Hill, as they drove off into the night.


	18. Halloween

**Hey everyone. I decided to upload two chapters today, so if you haven't read the last one, go and catch up and if you have, cool. Thanks for the support so far, the reviews, the favorites and follows have been awesome. I hope you enjoy and Happy Halloween.**

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic The Hedgehog or any of the characters, they are owned by Sega and Sonic Team._

 _Disclaimer: Jojo is owned by BigWritingWorld, so special thanks to him for letting me feature him._

 _Disclaimer: Of course, Saturn Night is owned by me._

* * *

 **October 31st.**

Another dead end.

After the events of the previous week, they had come to another block in their path.

Shadow had been questioned but knew nothing of the true identity of the culprit.

While he had interfered with the case, he had agreed to help them in their efforts in exchange for not being arrested.

He did however, inform them of a secret party happening tonight despite the curfew in place.

"You thinking they'll strike there next?" Saturn asked.

"At this point, I'm not sure of anything anymore." Jo said.

Jo had been hit hard the most, having all his leads crumble before him.

Tricked by whoever this person was, then to add insult to injury, the red substance on the cloak had been analyzed, only for them to find that it was fake, bought at a costume shop.

The note had been analyzed too, but no fingerprints or any traces of DNA were found.

For them, it always felt like there was a ticking clock, looming over them and right now, it seemed like time was almost up.

* * *

 **That Night.**

With the warehouse district abandoned, Jet snuck everyone from school inside the warehouse, Wave having set everything up.

With Sonic out of the way, the annual Halloween party was thought to be cancelled, but Jet would be the one to save the day.

Jet smirked, thinking how when he returned to school the next day, he would be the one that the people idolized.

The party kicked off, everyone dressed in their costumes, laughing and enjoying themselves as if nothing had ever happened.

But among the crowd, was one person who was still well aware of the reality, dragged there by her friends, telling her it would help her to cope.

Amy only agreed in order to get them off her back, then she could go back to hiding in her room.

Little did they know, neither of their expectations would be.

Amy had managed to wait out the past hour, figuring she showed up, stayed long enough and now would be a good time to leave.

Unknown to her, Jet had other plans.

As Amy went to leave, her arm was grabbed.

She turned to see Jet, now pulling her closer to him.

"Hey, what's the rush?" Jet asked.

"Let go of me." Amy said, tugging away her arm, obviously not in the mood to deal with this.

"Hey, take it easy, the party's just started." Jet said, pulling her next to him and putting his arm around her.

"You know, now that Sonic's gone, I bet you're kind of lonely, I heard you spend most of your time in your room now, mind if I join you?" Jet said, creepily.

Amy looked at him in disgust, slapping him across the face and running off.

Jet winced in pain, putting his hand against his cheek.

"Yeah, well who needs ya?!" Jet shouted.

Unknown to him, Wave had been watching, witnessing the whole scene go down as he hit on Amy.

Her fists clenched in anger, her teeth grinding as she looked at Jet, appalled by his behavior.

She had always like Jet, but she knew deep down that despite him always hanging around her, he felt nothing for her, only keeping her around as a means of boosting his own ego.

She stormed off, going to the punch bowl to grab a drink.

Unfortunately for him, someone else had been watching.

Jet leapt onto the stage, grabbing the microphone.

"Everybody, how you liking the party?!" He shouted into microphone.

Everyone cheered, raising their cups in ignorant joy.

"Alright, time for a little karaoke!" He announced, everyone cheering again.

"Now, obviously, the host goes first." He said smugly, the music track starting up, right on cue.

Jet sang loud and annoying, almost screaming into the microphone, obviously impaired from partying.

People started to boo him and yelled at him to get off the stage, but he just ignored them.

After a minute, it started to catch up to him, eyes getting heavier, sweating heavily, his vision blurring and his movements sloppy and all over the place.

 _"You shouldn't have tried to take advantage of my Rose." The cloaked figure thought as they appeared before everyone._

Everyone gasped and many started running for their lives.

The cloaked figure laughed, their distorted voice only adding to their menace.

With that, the cloaked figure dropped something, it began to swing back and forth until…it hit Jet.

The wire had swayed back and forth, practically missing him, until finally it hit.

The shock of electricity immediately woke him out of his impaired state, causing a massive jolt of pain throughout his body.

He screamed out for help, but there was nothing anyone could do.

After just a few seconds, the wire fell back, Jet falling off of the stage, onto the floor, perfectly still.


	19. Failure

**Well, last time was pretty eventful, so it's time to take another step back, re-evaluate everything and get back to investigating, seeing as how they have another victim.**

 **Looks like it's time to respond again.**

 **Shadow Hedgi – You'll have to wait and see.**

 **Guest – Probably.**

 **Lilly – Yep. Sally was Sonic's alibi though and that fact helped them to shift their focus towards finding the real culprit. True, it is still a shame what happened to her.**

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic The Hedgehog or any of the characters, they are owned by Sega and Sonic Team._

 _Disclaimer: Jojo is owned by BigWritingWorld, so special thanks to him for letting me feature him._

 _Disclaimer: Of course, Saturn Night is owned by me._

* * *

 **November 1st.**

With the horror of Halloween at an end, the real horror had continued.

That morning, the warehouses now had guards posted at all sides, keeping intruders out.

Jet's body had been taken to the lab for study.

Jo and Saturn began to question everyone in attendance, which was basically almost every student at the high school.

Most of them knew nothing, all of them either shrugging or telling them the same story of the mysterious cloaked individual who had appeared from out of nowhere and took out Jet.

However, everyone had also said the same thing, talk to Wave.

Wave had known Jet the best and was there the longest as it happened.

Of course, she was the one who called the authorities, however she had no answers to their questions.

Returning to the station with no answers wasn't exactly pleasant.

Frustrations were growing and tension was almost at it's boiling point.

But at their lowest, there was only one way to go, up.

However, it would be in one of the strangest of ways.

As they returned to the station, Saturn and Jo took notice of Espio unlocking Sonic's cell door.

"Hey, what's going on?" Jo questioned.

"Mayor's orders, Sonic is to be released, took a while to get the paperwork sorted out, but, we have to let him go." Espio told them.

"Are you kidding me?" Jo said, obviously irritated.

"I'm sorry, I'm under orders." Espio said.

Espio unlocked Sonic's cuffs, fearing his release outside, having to avoid the angry mobs and being targeted by that maniac.

However, at that moment, Saturn had an idea, not a very good one, but an idea none the less.

"Jo, desperate times call for desperate measures." Saturn says.

"What do you mean?" Jo asks.

"I mean, Sonic is obviously being targeted and this person will stop at nothing until he's gone, so…what if we give them what they want?" Saturn suggested.

"What?!" The three of them said simultaneously.

"What I mean is, when we let Sonic go, we stay close by, the maniac will surely try to go after him again and when they do, we'll be ready to apprehend them at the scene." Saturn explained.

"So what you're saying is, you wanna use me as bait!" Sonic said, obviously not liking the plan.

Jo sighed.

"Look, it's risky, but it's the only plan we've got, Sonic, do you want us to catch this guy?" Jo asked.

Sonic hesitated in answering, knowing he did but also not wanting to risk his life.

However, he had wanted to change for the better and doing something for the sake of everyone else's lives would be quite the first step.

"Yes." Sonic agreed to the plan.

"Alright, we'll wait out here, at night, we'll drop him off at his house and wait for them to show up, out of sight of course." Saturn said.

So the plan was set.

 _"I hope this works." Sonic thought._

* * *

 **That Night.**

The car pulled up to Sonic's home.

"Alright, now get out of here, you're lucky the mayor let you go free, kid." Jo said angrily, obviously acting as though Sonic was still guilty somehow.

"I told you before I wasn't guilty." Sonic said smugly.

Sonic shut the car door, walking back up to his house.

Suddenly, the three of them were alerted by the rustling of bushes.

Sonic turned to look, but as Saturn was about to, Jo stopped him.

"Ignore it, I see a bit of the cloak, drive back a few blocks, we'll park and get out of the car, get them by surprise." Jo said.

Saturn went along with it, driving off.

Sonic shivered a bit, unable to keep calm in the situation.

 _"Well, I'm a goner." He thought._

As he unlocked the door and went inside, he hoped that Jo and Saturn would succeed.

As Jo and Saturn made it back to the block, they arrived just in time for the cloaked figure to make their move.

The cloaked figure crept toward the house as they did before, slowly making their way inside.

"Now." Jo said.

Jo and Saturn ran for the door.

With them only having a house to maneuver in, they figured it would that much harder for them to escape.

Clearly, they would be wrong.

Jo and Saturn collided with the door, falling back.

Both Jo and Saturn winced in pain.

"What happened?" Jo asked.

"The idiot locked the door." Saturn insulted Sonic.

"Great." Jo said, sarcastically.

"Well, now they know we're here, now what?" Jo questioned.

"Take the window." Saturn said.

While they went around be the house to the window, the figure had rushed upstairs upon eating them run into the door.

As they ran upstairs, at the top, they were met by a bat to the head, knocking them down.

Sonic stood atop the stares, proudly smirking at his action.

Unfortunately his joy was short lived, the figure sitting back up and began to reach for something under the cloak.

As Jo and Saturn finally made their way in, a loud bang shocked them, paralyzing them for a moment.

Jo and Saturn crawled through the window, running to the stairs, stopping as soon as they saw it.

The culprit was gone, in their place, was Sonic.

He lay there, bruised from falling down the steps, a large wound through his heart, his eyes staring up at them blankly.

Sonic was gone.


	20. Who Is It?

**No intro this time, going right to the responses and then to the story.**

 **Guest and Lilly – The reviews aren't up there due to wanting to avoid spoilers, but I got the notification. What happened to Sonic was unfortunate, but you will see why in this chapter.**

 **Megaman07 – That it did, but again, not entirely.**

 **Shadow Hedgi – I know.**

 **Guest – The review also isn't up, but I got the notification. As for that, you're reading too much into it, it's just us trying to solve a case.**

 **Kobevilla - True. You'll find out soon enough.**

 **With that out of the way, let's get back to it.**

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic The Hedgehog or any of the characters, they are owned by Sega and Sonic Team._

 _Disclaimer: Jojo is owned by BigWritingWorld, so special thanks to him for letting me feature him._

 _Special thanks to Shadow Hedgi for letting me feature her._

 _Disclaimer: Of course, Saturn Night is owned by me._

* * *

The rest of the force had shown up to the scene, as well as what was basically the whole town.

As Sonic's body was carried away, they realized what they had done, how much of a mistake they had made in their accusations.

True, Sonic did deserve to pay for what he'd done, but not with his life.

Saturn watched as the doors to the vehicle closed, taking Sonic away.

He'd remembered Sonic's story and how it got him to where he was.

 _"Hopefully, he's found some sort of peace." Saturn thought._

Meanwhile, Jo had been sitting on the steps, not moving one bit, his head hung low and his eyes wide, the guilt eating away at him.

"It's my fault." He whispered to himself over and over again, like a record on loop.

The images of Sonic's lifeless body, playing in his mind each time.

As the scene quieted down a bit, Saturn walked over to Jo, seeing him in his stupor of mindless uttering of the same words.

"Jo, Jo, snap out of it!" Saturn said while shaking him by the shoulders.

It seemed to work to some degree, as Jo stopped talking.

"Now look, it wasn't a bad plan, we just didn't account for a few things." Saturn said.

"Yeah and it cost him his life!" Jo shouted, standing up at the same time, almost terrifying Saturn.

"Look, there was nothing we could've done, Sonic knew what he was getting into." Saturn said.

"So, what do you want me to do, move on and let this lunatic get away with axing off someone else?!" Jo retorted.

"No, I want you to be there when we finally catch this guy." Saturn said, suddenly more confident.

"What do you mean, we haven't been able to catch him yet, what makes now any different?" Jo questioned.

"Sonic's death wasn't in vain, this time, our culprit made one fatal mistake." Saturn told him.

From there, Saturn reached into his pocket, pulling out a bullet.

"Is that?" Jo asked.

"Yeah, they didn't think when they were committing the crime." Saturn said.

"I have someone who can help us, it might take a bit of time, but with this, we'll be able to identify what weapon was used, check out all the sales records, finally be able to track down whoever this is and put an end to this, once and for all." Saturn told him.

Jo looked at him, the faces of all the victims appearing before him, Jo suddenly realizing the magnitude of this evidence.

Jo nodded, ready to take down this person, face to face.

Those who had been lost would be avenged.

* * *

 **November 3rd.**

Saturn had managed to get in contact with the expert who could help them, this time they were local.

Jo pulled the car up to the shop and the two exited.

Jo walked up to the front door, only for Saturn to stop him.

"What?" Jo asked.

"She's not exactly an official employee." Saturn said.

With that, Saturn and Jo went down the alley, arriving at the old, rusted, metal door in back.

The two of them could hear the numerous locks on the other side being unlocked and after a brief moment, the door opened, revealing a cat, dressed in red and black.

"Who are you?" The cat asked.

"I'm Saturn, I'm a friend of Hedgi's and this is Jo." Saturn told her.

The cat nodded and guided the two inside.

The creepy atmosphere of the dark hall caused feelings of claustrophobia for both of them, but they continued to press on.

As they reached a room, the sound of a shot shocked them to the core.

Jo looked down nervously, as he heard the sound closely.

Looking down and then behind, he saw indents in the wall, a shot having been fired, barely missing him as it went passed right under him.

"Take one more step and the next one, I aim higher." Someone said.

The two of them looked over, seeing a girl with long brunette hair, wearing a black long sleeve shirt and a red scarf, while holding a firearm.

"Relax, Hedgi, it's just me." Saturn said.

"Saturn?" Shadow Hedgi said, barely recognizing him.

"Yeah, this town has definitely had an effect on me." Saturn said.

She placed the firearm on a desk and called the cat over, whispering something to her.

"Why is it that every time I meet one of your friends, they try to maim me?" Jo asked.

"It means they like you." Saturn joked.

Shadow Hedgi welcomed them in and turned on the lights, revealing an armory.

"Woah." Jo expressed.

"Sorry about that, Honey told me someone was here and since no one ever visits, you kind of have to be on your guard." Shadow Hedgi told them.

Jo smiled nervously, still intimidated by her.

"Why are you here exactly?" Shadow Hedgi asked.

Saturn pulled the bullet out of his pocket and handed it to her.

"I recovered this from a crime scene, we need to know what weapon it was used for." Saturn explained.

Shadow Hedgi looked at the bullet, a frown suddenly forming on her face.

Saturn noticed this.

"What's wrong?" Saturn asked.

"It's a specialized bullet, for something I built, I'm the one who sold it." Shadow Hedgi admitted, not knowing it would be used for such horrible purposes.

"Then you know who bought it." Jo said.

"Yes." Shadow Hedgi said.

"Who was it?" Saturn asked.

Shadow Hedgi stayed silent for a moment, having trouble saying the name, but sure enough, she told them.

"It was…"


	21. Looking It Over

**Wow, can't believe we've gotten this far, only a couple more**

 **chapters away from the reveal, thanks everybody.**

 **Time for responses.**

 **Gililoquy – Right you are.**

 **Guest – Thank you.**

 **Guest – Because it's fun to write that way. No problem, thank you.**

 **Kobevilla – Well…you're half right.**

 **Epsilon – You'll have to wait and see. No I didn't. Again, you'll have to wait and see.**

 **Shadow Hedgi - You're Welcome, it's fun having you along.**

 **With all that said, back to the story!**

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic The Hedgehog or any of the characters, they are owned by Sega and Sonic Team._

 _Disclaimer: Jojo is owned by BigWritingWorld, so special thanks to him for letting me feature him._

 _Special thanks to Shadow Hedgi for letting me feature her._

 _Disclaimer: Of course, Saturn Night is owned by me._

* * *

The car sped along the streets, coming to a stop at the station, the tires squealing and leaving tracks as it did so.

The doors opened, Jo, Saturn and Shadow Hedgi, rushing out of the car and into the station.

They walked down the halls, almost at jogging pace.

"Hey, what's going on?" Espio asked.

"We have to ask him a few questions." Jo said, anger in his voice.

As they walked along the hall, the holding cells to their right, they peered into each one, before finally reaching the end of the hall, looking into the cell, that held the vile, green hedgehog himself, Scourge.

Scourge remained on his bed, his eyes closed but obviously awake.

"What, is it time for more questioning?" Scourge said smugly.

Shadow Hedgi stormed forward, punching him right in the face, almost breaking his nose.

Shadow Hedgi stepped back as Scourge stood up, holding his nose as he wailed in pain.

Scourge crouched in a corner, opening his eyes to see two people he recognized staring down at him and one he didn't.

"Nice arm girly, and here I thought you couldn't do anything without your precious weapons." Scourge taunted.

Saturn held Shadow Hedgi back as she tried to lunge at him.

"Detective, how good to see you again." Scourge said, sarcastically.

"Who's this freak?" Scourge said, motioning to Saturn.

"This freak happens to be the guy who kicked your sorry excuse for a face in, at your club." Saturn pointed out, not wanting to deal with Scourge.

Saturn pulled up his hood and Scourge instantly remembered him.

Scourge growled, ready to take him on, but knew he was outnumbered.

"So what do you want?" Scourge asked.

"We want answers, Miss Hedgi sold you a weapon which we now believe our culprit used to take out Sonic the Hedgehog." Jo said, showing him a picture of the said weapon.

"So, blue boy is gone for good." Scourge said with a smirk.

He handed the photo back and chuckled.

"I had it placed on the mantle in my personal room at the club, one day it disappeared, the same day Knuckles bit the dust." Scourge told them.

"So you didn't do anything to find it?" Saturn asked.

"I asked around, had a few words with my employees, but they denied it, they knew their place." Scourge said, Saturn growing angrier with that last bit mentioned.

"Honestly, it wasn't that big of a deal, I just used it for bragging rights, show off for certain guests." Scourge said.

Shadow Hedgi grew frustrated at this, the very thought of her own hard work being used for such awful purposes.

Both of them used all their willpower not to end Scourge right then and there.

Jo on the other hand was more frustrated on another matter.

 _"This can't be another dead end!" Jo thought._

The three of them walked out of the cell and closed the door.

However, as they began to walk away, Scourge spoke up one more time.

"Hey, they may have denied it, but I'd still ask my employees, I had a feeling one of them was lying, just couldn't figure out who." Scourge said.

"We already did that." Jo said.

"Then I guess they fooled you too." Scourge said.

The three of them shrugged off his words and returned to the front of the station.

"I have to get back to work, let me know if you find anything out." Shadow Hedgi said, saying goodbye and heading back to the shop.

Saturn and Jo went to the break room, Jo chugging down a coffee while Saturn paced around the room, trying to piece everything together.

"It just doesn't add up, why would they go after all these random people?" Saturn questioned.

"All of them were connected by a link." Jo said.

Saturn looked at him in confusion.

"Sonic." Jo answered.

"We have two different social circles, Sonic being the only connection between both, seeing as he had relationships with both Amy Rose and Sally Acorn, as well as a few others." Jo continued.

Jo and Saturn started putting each note on a table, tracking where everything lead up to.

"Amy learns of Sonic's cheating and breaks off their relationship, which results in Knuckles asking her out." Saturn said.

"This in turn results in Julie-Su, pursuing a relationship with Sonic." Jo said.

Saturn went over it in his head at least twenty times, that's when he realized something.

"Wait a minute, Julie-Su couldn't have been the woman that night!" Saturn exclaimed.

"What?" Jo said.

Amy said she saw Sonic with a woman, the one he took advantage of, which caused her to break up with him." Saturn said.

"Right, it was Julie-Su, Sonic went to the city to get her back." Jo pointed out.

"True, he did have a relationship behind their back, but how could Julie-Su have been the woman if Amy hadn't broken up with Sonic yet?" Saturn asked.

"Wait a minute, then that means." Jo realized what he was getting at.

"It was someone else that night." Saturn concluded.

Jo sat down, wincing from his headache.

"So now, all of our leads are gone, we really are back to square one." Jo said.

"Not necessarily, there is still the fact that they would've had to have known about Sonic's relationship with Julie-Su." Saturn said.

"Not to mention have a grudge against…Sonic." Jo said, memories flooding back to him.

"What's up?" Saturn said, noticing Jo's pause.

"Saturn, was Amy around anywhere when any of these crimes were committed?" Jo asked.

Saturn thought about each crime, from Knuckles' encounter in the alley, Vector found in the grave, Vanilla's burning, Cream's unfortunate run in, Sally's encounter, Jet's fatal incident and Sonic's end.

"No, most of the time she wasn't around, other times she was there before or after." Saturn said.

"Why do you ask?" Saturn asked.

"The day I went to the hospital when Vanilla went in for surgery, Amy came rushing through the doors, I noticed she left tracks, I thought it was just water at first, but then I examined it and I noticed it was all over her shoes." Jo told him.

Saturn looked at him, still not understanding.

"It was gasoline." Jo said.

Saturn couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"You don't think she would, would you?" Saturn asked.

"At this point, anything is possible, she's the only person left with a motive." Jo said.

"I get why she would be mad at Sonic, but why her own friends?" Saturn questioned.

"Who knows, but were about to find out." Jo said, grabbing his car keys.

"Come on, let's go make sure she's can't hurt anyone else." Jo said.

Saturn nodded, still not believing that Amy was capable of doing such horrible things.

Despite his belief, he went along, ready for both the best or the worst.


	22. Toll Of The Bell

**Closer and closer to the reveal we are. With them suspecting Amy, let's see how this plays out.**

 **Time to respond, of course.**

 **Shadow Hedgi – I explained in message.**

 **Megaman07 – I think you forgot that the culprit snuck into the hospital to see Amy and eliminated Jet after he flirted with her.**

 **Kobevilla – Don't worry, there aren't two. Looks like you'll get your answer soon, although your Amy theory was an alternate ending I had planned in case anyone found out the real identity too soon.**

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic The Hedgehog or any of the characters, they are owned by Sega and Sonic Team._

 _Disclaimer: Jojo is owned by BigWritingWorld, so special thanks to him for letting me feature him._

 _Disclaimer: Of course, Saturn Night is owned by me._

* * *

Pulling up to the house and parking the car, Jo and Saturn walked up to the porch, knocking at the door of the Rose home.

"I'm telling you, it couldn't have been her." Saturn repeated.

"She's the only suspect left and the only one with a reason." Jo reminded him of the facts stacked against her.

The door opened, revealing a pink hedgehog, older than Amy but the resemblance was there.

"Mrs. Rose, I'm Jo, this is Saturn." Jo introduced themselves formally.

"I know who you two are, I take it you're here to talk to my daughter again." Mrs. Rose said with a bit of disdain in her voice.

"Yes ma'am, there's an important matter we need to discuss with her." Saturn said.

"She's not here." Mrs. Rose said.

"What do you mean, where is she?" Jo asked.

"This whole situation has gotten to her, she hadn't been eating, she barely slept, she was in the hospital for a few days, she wouldn't even talk to us!" Mrs. Rose ranted, as if to blame them for her daughter's distress.

"We woke up this morning and she wasn't in her bed, we tried calling her, but she left her phone behind, we called the authorities but they haven't found her." Mrs. Rose told them, starting to tear up.

Saturn lowered his head, hiding his eyes beneath his hair, out of respect and sympathy.

"We're sorry to have bothered you ma'am, don't worry, we'll find her." Saturn assured her.

Saturn bid her goodbye and shut the door, Jo already waiting at the car for him.

"Still think Amy's innocent?" Jo asked in a harsh tone, as if to say he was right.

"As a matter of fact, I do." Saturn retorted.

Saturn opened the passenger seat door and got in, Jo getting in the car and starting it up.

As the car pulled away, Mrs. Rose was looking out the window as it did, the barrel of a firearm pointed at her back.

"They're gone, I lead them away, now give me my daughter back!" Mrs. Rose demanded.

"I advise you not to take that tone with me." The cloaked figure threatened.

They turned Mrs. Rose around, pointing the barrel to her neck.

"Patience, once my work is done, you will have your daughter back, safe and sound." The cloaked figure promised her.

"Why are you doing this?" Mrs. Rose asked with a whimper.

"Because, she's worth all the trouble." The cloaked figure said.

As those final words were said, the sun had finally set, leaving the house in darkness.

With a few faint sounds heard, Mrs. Rose maneuvered her way around the room, turning the light switch to on.

Just like that, the cloaked figure was gone.

* * *

 **Later.**

They had searched high and low throughout the town, yet they had still not found any sign of Amy.

 _"Where could she be?" Saturn thought._

"Well, one things for sure, she's given us quite the chase." Jo said.

"We only know she's missing, that's all." Saturn said.

"Tell me something, what makes you so sure that she's not guilty?" Jo asked.

Saturn didn't answer for a moment, trying to explain how he knew, as simply as he could.

"Let's just say I have a way of knowing, and you talking about her like she's instantly guilty and a maniac just because we have no other leads left, isn't exactly fair to her." Saturn explained.

Jo was about to speak up, but Saturn spoke up again.

"She's already been through enough, she's lost so many important people in her life, people she loved, people she cared for, it's scarred her, she doesn't need anyone else hurting her." Saturn told him.

Jo looked at Saturn in confusion.

"Look, I'm trained to take every course of action and there is a possibility that she is guilty, so I have to act on it." Jo said.

Saturn sighed, looking out the window.

"I know." Saturn said, closing his eyes.

It may have been against better judgement, but still, he couldn't stand to see those in pain and right now, he had a chance to end this, free these people from the fear this psycho had brought upon them and help heal those effected by the tragedies.

"Besides, I thought you were just in this for your story." Jo pointed out.

"I told you, that's just what I do to make a living, what's important is finding this guy and taking him down." Saturn said.

That's when Jo remembered something Saturn had mentioned before.

"Oh right, you never told me how you let them escape." Jo brought up.

Saturn sighed, hoping he wouldn't remember.

"It was the night they went after Knuckles." Saturn started.

"I was in town, figuring I would take a break, visit home." Saturn said.

"I was walking down the street, figuring I'd stop by the bakery and see if they had any pastries left to eat, since I knew Cream and Vanilla stay late before locking up." Saturn told him.

"I saw the truck pull up, I saw the cloaked figure that night, but I didn't think anything of it, I figured it was just a prank since October had just started." Saturn said, starting to grow more serious as he remembered.

"The next thing I knew, I heard something down the alley, I looked over and I saw them carrying Knuckles' body out." Saturn said.

"I knew then that it was no joke." Saturn said.

"I ran after them, but they were too fast, they threw the body in the back of the truck and by the time I reached the car door, they had pulled out the firearm and hit me with the back of it right in the head, knocking me out." Saturn revealed.

"I woke up about ten minutes later and they were gone, I could've stopped this then, everyone would still be alive, but I failed." So ended Saturn's story.

Jo didn't know what to say, nothing sounding right to him.

Instead, he focused on the road, neither one of them saying a word.

However, one sound would be the key to finally ending this, once and for all.

With nothing but silence, they both heard it.

Jo and Saturn pulled over for a moment and opened the windows, trying to get a better listen.

They heard it one more time, both recognizing it.

"The bell tower!" They both yelled simultaneously, Jo instantly starting the car back up and flooring it.

The sound of the bell was instantly recognizable, it's heavy ringing had not been heard since they were young as it had been retired since then.

No one had rung it in years, until now.

"You think someone's trying to get some attention?" Saturn joked, the wind rushing through his hair as his head was out the window, trying to see if he could see who it was in the distance.

"Yeah, and they're about to get it." Jo said.

Jo hit the brakes, barely avoiding a collision with the tower.

Both of them got out of the car, opening the tower doors up to enter.

From there, they peered up, the spiraling staircase leading up, encircling them.

To their surprise, up above them, looking down at them, was the cloaked figure them self.

At their side, was a tied up individual with a bag covering their face.

"It seems she was able to alert someone, how unfortunate." The cloaked figure said.

Saturn growled as he glared up at the cloaked figure, quickly rushing up the staircase.

"Saturn, wait!" Jo called out.

Saturn paid no attention to the calls, he was too driven to take whoever this was, down.

After about a minute, Saturn had made it, standing before them.

"Let…her…go." Saturn said through his gritted teeth.

The cloaked figure shoved the hostage to the wall.

"Come and get her." The cloaked figure challenged.

Saturn took his stance, ready to face off against them.

Jo had begun his ascent in order to help him.

 _"He ain't taking all the glory on this one." Jo thought, humorously._

Saturn and the cloaked figure had begun to fight, Saturn already bruised up.

Little did they know, the floor below, as well as the holding above, was beginning to break.

Saturn landed a punch to the cloaked figure, knocking them into the bell, almost causing them to fall.

The cloaked figure quickly regained their balance, however, the breaks had become more visible, the floor around them crumbling.

Just then, the holding above crumbled apart, causing the bell to fall, crashing into the ground below.

The two of them were still fighting despite the environment around them falling apart.

However, the cloaked figure would gain the upper hand.

The cloak figure grabbed Saturn by the throat, his body down on the floor, his head over the ledge.

Saturn struggled to breath, trying to counter him.

Saturn reached up, trying to grab the mask, but it was no use.

Suddenly, the cloaked figure began to chuckle.

Saturn looked at him in confusion.

"Poor, poor, Saturn, you've made it so far." They said with maniacal joy.

Saturn's breathing slowed down, as the cloaked figures grip loosened, Saturn confused as to why.

The next second, he would have his answer.

The cloaked figure leaned forward, whispering into his ear, this time, in their real voice.

"But it looks like this is the end." They said.

Saturn's eyes went wide as he gasped, recognizing the voice.

At that moment, the floor gave way.

The cloaked figure leapt back onto safe ground, the collapsing rubble falling.

Jo looked up, as it came falling down, moving back towards the wall to avoid being hit.

Finally, as the dust cleared, Jo looked down.

"N-No." Jo said, whimpering, not being able to comprehend what had happened.

Saturn lay there, his eyes still open, staring at the night sky above, the moonlight reflected in his eyes.

No longer moving, no longer feeling, no longer among them.

Saturn, was no more.


	23. Revealed

**Well, this is it.**

 **Before we get to it, it's time to respond.**

 **Shadow Hedgi – Yeah, that looks about right.**

 **Kobevilla – I had it planned since the very beginning. Incredible, you managed to name everyone, except for who it really is. Sorry my friend, your deductions were impressive, but time is up.**

 **Gililoquy – Nice reference.**

 **Megaman07 – It means he's gone, simple as that. By the way, I already messaged you but I just wanted to say thank you again for the compliments.**

 **Lilly – True.**

 **Epsilon – You're about to find out. I'm afraid so.**

 **Captain – I wanted to do something unexpected. Thank you.**

 **On a side note, If you do review, please do not reveal the true identity of the culprit in them, thank you.**

 **Now, the moment of truth.**

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic The Hedgehog or any of the characters, they are owned by Sega and Sonic Team._

 _Disclaimer: Jojo is owned by BigWritingWorld, so special thanks to him for letting me feature him._

 _Disclaimer: Of course, Saturn Night is owned by me._

* * *

Jo shook in anger, his face expressing a rage, all directed towards that psycho.

He looked down at Saturn's lifeless body.

 _"I'm sorry." He thought._

He set his sight towards the cloaked figure, who was still looking down at Saturn, admiring their work.

Jo booked it up the stairs, his breath heavy from pushing himself as well as his anger.

The cloaked figure just watched in amusement, standing there awaiting him.

 _"My last target, after this it will all be over." They thought._

Jo had reached him, instantly lunging for him.

The figure just smirked, sidestepping out of the way.

Jo landed, only to be met by the cloaked figure's foot, almost knocking him off the edge.

"Care to join your friend?" The cloaked figure said, going in for another kick.

Jo growled, grabbing them by the foot as it drew closer, flipping them onto their back.

Jo, putting his control behind him, pushed the back of their head repeatedly down against the concrete platform, trying to make sure they would be knocked out.

The cloaked figure groaned in pain, but managed to strike Jo in the gut, enabling them to get free.

The cloaked figure, disoriented from Jo's repeated strikes, stumbled as they grabbed the hostage, dragging them up to the roof.

Jo getting his breath back after they had knocked the wind out of him, ran after them.

Jo reached the roof, finding the hostage, collapsed onto the ground, crying out for help, yelling that their leg was broken.

Jo looked in every direction, but no one else was in sight, his body turning every which way, nervously preparing for them to appear out of nowhere.

Jo's eyes darted back and forth, sweat running down his face, his body starting to give up on him from exhaustion and overexertion.

 _"Take her now and go, you might be able to get away and get her to safety." Jo convinced himself._

Jo went over and began to untie the ropes around her.

"Don't worry, I'm gonna get you out of here." He assured her.

"T-thank you." She stuttered, still sobbing from the trauma.

The knots came loose and she was freed.

"Now, let's get this mask off." Jo said.

Jo took off her mask and gasped as soon as he saw who it was.

 _"Amy Rose." He thought in surprise._

The pink hedgehog stared at him, forever grateful to him.

Just then, Amy's glance was set behind him, her eyes going wide in fear.

"Watch out!" She screamed, rolling out of the way.

Jo turned, a fist meeting his face.

"Alright, I've had enough of this." The cloaked figure said.

"My thoughts exactly." Jo said, wheezing in pain.

Jo got up, using the last of his strength to fend the figure off.

Jo could feel himself getting weaker.

 _"I may not be able to take this guy down, but I can do this!" He thought._

As he and the figure were locked in a standstill, Jo grabbed the mask around them, ripping it off as he fell back.

Jo stared at the mask, noticing he grabbed something else, their voice modulator.

"N-no." Amy stuttered, looking on in horror, their identity finally revealed.

Jo turned his sights to the now unmasked cloaked figure.

He couldn't believe what he was seeing, it was as if in that moment, everything changed.

Jo stared into the cold eyes of someone who he had thought to be innocent, someone who didn't seem to have a motive, someone who had been long forgotten in the wake of all the chaos.

Rouge.


	24. The Motive And The Justice

**Hello everyone. Well, with the identity revealed, the only thing left to explain, is why.**

 **Just wanted to thank you for the reviews and for following my request, it means a lot.**

 **A few of you didn't notice, but it's alright, just so long as you enjoyed, but please, to everyone, please don't spoil in reviews for this chapter either. I thank you all and I hope you like it.**

 **It's time to respond.**

 **Shadow Hedgi – Yeah, that seems about the right reaction.**

 **Lilly – What makes you say that?**

 **Guest – Also a good reaction.**

 **Epsilon – You're about to find out.**

 **Gililoquy – Thank you. That he was, but not in the way he thought.**

 **Kobevilla – It was an honor to keep you guessing, you had good theories. I thank you and I look forward to it.**

 **Megaman07 and KedharS– Thank You.**

 **Now, onto the story.**

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic The Hedgehog or any of the characters, they are owned by Sega and Sonic Team._

 _Disclaimer: Jojo is owned by BigWritingWorld, so special thanks to him for letting me feature him._

 _Disclaimer: Of course, Saturn Night is owned by me._

* * *

Jo awoke, aching with a sharp pain everywhere on his body.

Jo winced as he attempted to move, only to find he had been tied up.

"Well, look who's finally awake." Rouge said, as she entered the room.

Jo glared at her, his awareness slowly returning to him, finally realizing where he was.

He was back in the abandoned warehouse district, trapped in an old clothing workshop.

Scraps of clothing remained scattered on the floor, desks emptied and broken, the hanging lights above, barely holding on.

"Not much to look at, but it has its perks, plus, they did leave behind a few hidden gems." Rouge said, pulling out a red dress and holding it up to herself.

Jo just continued to look on in anger, unamused by her performance.

"Oh right, I forgot, I'm talking to you." Rouge mocked him.

"Don't worry, when I get out of here, I'll put in a word for you so you can wear your dress in your mugshot." Jo said, struggling to break free, ignoring the pain.

"I'm afraid not detective, I intend to finally end this tonight, and I can't do that until you're gone." Rouge told him.

As Jo struggled, he realized, he was staring at this maniac right in the face.

"But… why?" Jo asked himself.

Fortunately for him, Rouge had heard him and was more than happy to oblige, after all, from her perspective he wouldn't be telling anyone anything.

"Because they were in the way." Rouge started.

Rouge pulled up a chair, sitting right in front of him so he could hear her loud and clear.

While this was happening, someone was creeping outside, trying to find a way in, listening in on Rouge's story as they did.

"At first it was supposed to be simple, Sonic was my only target." Rouge said.

"I was the girl that night, the night Amy caught him cheating." Rouge revealed.

Jo looked at her in confusion.

"I knew he had never deserved Amy, I loved her more than anything, yet that idiot blue hedgehog had stolen her affections, he didn't deserve her, his constant cheating and abuse had proven that, I just knew he had to go." Rouge said.

"I planned it out, I would falsely pursue Sonic, make him think he had a chance and then when we were alone, end his miserable existence." Rouge said, her fist clenching.

"But, just my luck, that night, Amy had spotted us, I was terrified of what she would think, how she would see me as nothing but worthless trash who had stolen her boyfriend." Rouge said.

"Fortunately for me, I noticed quickly she hadn't recognized me and from then I knew exactly what to do, all I had to do was give a little performance, act innocent in the situation, defending Amy, and from then I knew Sonic would take care of the rest." Rouge said, with a smirk.

"When she had broken up with him, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to make my move… until that stupid ex-boyfriend of mine moved in on her and stole her from me!" Rouge said, starting to get angry.

"After that, I bided my time, waiting for the perfect chance to get rid of both of them." Rouge said.

"As you know, I was working for that waste, Scourge, I was working my shift, waiting for him to run off with Fiona, after some time, he was passed out in his bed with her, I stole the keys to his truck and the firearm in his room and set out to take care of them both." Rouge said.

"I found Sonic wandering about and I figured I'd save bullets if I just ran him over, but he was quicker than I thought, he'd made it to a residential area and as he was on the ground, I realized I had been chasing the wrong guy, lucky for me, he hadn't seen me at that point, so I spared his life and drove off." Rouge said, Jo remembering Shadow's story, which explained Scourge's truck situation.

"After that, I made it back just in time to catch Knuckles walking home in the dark, from there I lured him into the alley and ended him." Rouge explained.

"Unfortunately for me, that stupid fox caught me and tried to stop me, I managed to fend him off, but I figured he would tell people anyway, I may as well make a spectacle of it and well, you know what happened to Knuckles after that." Rouge said, reminding him of that day this all started as they saw Knuckles on display for all to see.

"After that day I realized, even if I got rid of both of them, all of her friends were still in the way, constantly around her, drawing her attention and affections away, I knew I had to do something." Rouge said.

That's when Jo remembered something.

"But wait, the assembly at the school, why would you write, it should've been her?" Jo asked.

"Simple, to throw you off the scent, fake a hatred for someone, give a convincing alibi, especially when it leads to that monster, Scourge and you're as good as cleared." Rouge said, smugly.

"After that, Vector couldn't leave well enough alone, he followed me around without me knowing, trailing me down here, he found evidence and attempted to arrest me, I didn't want to do it, but I had no choice, I took him out of the picture and since I didn't want to draw attention to it, I snuck his body out to the cemetery that night and dumped it where Knuckles' grave was set to be, figuring they were burying him the next day, so no one would notice." Rouge explained.

"After that, the only thing left to do was eliminate Sonic and her friends, and of course, a perfect opportunity presented itself." Rouge said.

"I found out they had asked her out to eat, I used this opportunity to take the three of them out, I acquired gasoline and set it up to where it would burn the place down, all I had to do was text Amy, telling her I wanted to talk with her in private, so I could keep her safe." Rouge told him.

"I of course acted sympathetic and understanding, hoping she would see me as a kindred spirit she could come to for help and affection whenever she needed it, unfortunately we had an accident, the leftover gasoline I had, spilled onto the floor, all over her shoes, which of course is when I offered to buy her new ones." Rouge said, Jo now understanding that little detail.

From then on, you know the rest, one by one, they all fell at my hand, whether they were a target or just in the way, while all I had to do was put a little work in to throw you off, with some help from the mayor of course." Rouge revealed.

"What?!" Jo said, in shock.

"That's right, after a few more were taken care of, the mayor offered me a deal, I carry out my mission and his reputation as well as the town's doesn't go under, he made for a nice lackey." Rouge explained.

"Now, it's almost all over, only one loose end to tie up." Rouge said.

Rouge got up from the chair, walking over to the back wall, breaking the glass container on it, pulling out the axe used in case of a fire.

Jo continued to struggle as Rouge walked over to him, she enjoyed watching him squirm.

As Rouge finally was next to him, she raised the axe to the air, looking at him with a deranged smile.

As she swung down, she stopped as it was just about to make contact, hearing a sound coming from somewhere.

Looking over her shoulder, she saw a shadow coming from the next room.

"Stay here." Rouge joked.

Rouge crept over to the doorway, peering into the next room to see only nothing.

"Must be my imagination." Rouge said.

"Not quite." A voice said, from behind her.

Rouge turned around quickly, only to have the axe knocked out of her hand and her throat in someone's grasp.

Rouge stared wide eyed in horror as she was met face to face with the mask she had worn when she had committed her crimes.

"No." Rouge said, with fear in her voice.

"Afraid so." They said, their voice distorted from the voice changer, hidden by the cloak.

They threw Rouge onto the floor, damaging her wings.

Rouge attempted to fly away, but found she couldn't.

"Uh oh." Rouge said.

The cloaked figure grasped her by the leg, keep her down to the ground.

The cloaked figure then dragged her by the leg, Rouge digging her nails into the floor, scraping along, tearing it up, causing a piercing sound that was horrible to the ears.

Picking her up by the leg, they threw her, the bat now trembling, her limbs going numb.

"P-please, no more." Rouge begged.

The cloaked figure looked away for a moment, walking over to Jo, picking up the axe to cut the ropes which confined him.

Jo could still barely move, but somehow, he knew he was safe.

The same could not be said for Rouge, who was attempting to crawl away, dragging her legs across the floor.

The cloaked figure pursued her, grasping her by the back of the neck, they held her still.

"Why are you doing this?" Rouge questioned.

The cloaked person stood tall, removing the cloak, the voice changer and the mask, revealing Amy.

Rouge looked at her in shock, starting to sob, shaking her head no.

"You took them all away from me." Amy said, an endless amount of hatred, directed all at Rouge.

"I did it all for you." Rouge said.

Amy stepped forward, the axe raised up.

"I love you." Rouge whimpered.

Amy stared at Rouge for a moment, both of their reflections in the axe's blade, for a moment, everything seemed to slow down.

Amy took one last look, looking at Rouge with the eyes of a friend, before her reality set back in.

With that, she ended it all.

Amy stood there, trembling uncontrollably, dropping the axe to the floor.

Then, the tears came, Amy breaking down, falling to her knees, crying.

Jo looked on, limping towards her, putting his arm around her to comfort her.

Outside, the morning sun was rising, their nightmare was over.


	25. Aftermath

**It feels kind of weird seeing this end, but it's been great creating this story and seeing all of your enthusiasm.**

 **Time for the last responses for this story.**

 **Megaman07 – That's fair.**

 **Epsilon – Yes, you are correct. Blaze is still alive.**

 **KedharS and Gililoquy- Thank you both, your support over time has been amazing and I can't thank you enough.**

 **With all that said, let us finally put this story to an end.**

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic The Hedgehog or any of the characters, they are owned by Sega and Sonic Team._

 _Disclaimer: Jojo is owned by BigWritingWorld, so special thanks to him for letting me feature him._

 _Disclaimer: Of course, Saturn Night is owned by me._

* * *

A whole year had passed, but in everyone's minds, the events that took place, almost seemed like distant memories, still wounding them nonetheless.

In the time that passed, many changes took place.

Peace and order had returned to the small town of Hollow Hill, as a new mayor had been selected after their old mayor had mysteriously disappeared upon accusations of having dealings with criminals.

Rouge's body was recovered from the scene and given proper burial, despite no one showing up.

Amy, still distraught from the whole ordeal and the actions she had to take, convinced her parents in moving away…far away.

Vanilla sold the bakery, opting to take time away in order to get her life back on track.

Espio took over the position as chief of police, bringing in new recruits, including Silver and Blaze.

Scourge was eventually sentenced to thirty years behind bars, which he is currently serving.

Fiona and Nicole took over Club Scourge, redesigning it, effectively making it more public friendly for people to hang out, even renaming it after their dearly departed friend, naming it, Sally's Club.

Shadow had graduated and moved out to Station Square, landing a job at Purr Industries.

Saturn's death had not been in vain.

Jo had compiled all of Saturn's research together, as well as adding on what happened over the course of the case and the outcome, which Saturn was unfortunately not there to see.

Sending his research to his friends, they published it for the world to see, an entire crime story which became a hit.

Saturn had accomplished what he had set out to do and even when he was gone, he still managed to enlighten with his final story.

Finally, Jo.

With the case over and done with, Jo returned to Station Square, picking up where he left off, each case he took on, going by within a couple of days each.

Nothing had even come close to the challenge and confusing nature of what happened in Hollow Hill, aside from the losses, he sort of missed it.

That's when the phone rang.

Jo rubbed his eyes, tired but still fully aware.

He picked up the phone, answering it in an exhausted voice.

"Hello." He said.

"Yes, is this Jo?" A woman said, on the line.

"Yeah, who is this?" Jo asked.

"My name is Tikal, there's not much time to explain, but we need your help." She said.

Just like that, Jo was headed out of the city once more, heading for a new town, a new case.

Where one story ends, more begin.

* * *

 **Thank you all so much for reading.**

 **Thank you to all of you who reviewed, favorited and followed.**

 **Thank you to everyone who guest starred.**

 **Lastly, thank you to everyone who joined me in this mystery.**

 **With that, I bid you goodbye, until next time.**


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